Positivity Progress Post

Check out that title! I just LOVE alliteration!

Anyway, I've been managing to stay pretty caught up with this project which is pretty amazing. Truth be known, I've only got 22 of the 24 blocks completed at this moment but there are pieces just waiting to be sewn together so I feel like I'm right there with everyone, right?

Here's the layout I was planning on using until the math went awry. I was going to fill in and surround these blocks with the medium grays until I saw that it would mean 7 blocks wide instead of the required 6. YOI!

So this became the proposed layout. Perfect, right? I would now get the six rows across! Yay! Except now the columns would number 7 blocks each and I need 8! Double Yoi!

Here are all 22 (so far) blocks on the floor. I think I'll probably continue with the medium gray blocks, surrounding the above. Then I'll add another row of medium gray blocks at the top and at the bottom. That makes 48 blocks which is the magic number. The "bonus" two light gray and two dark gray blocks will go on the back. Sounds like a good plan, right? Let's see if I can make this happen!

Thank you, Preeti, for this opportunity to pull my hair out stretch my quilting abilities. I'm linking up with Bernie at Needle and Foot and all other Positivity participants. These quilts are being made for donation to Mercyful or any other chosen charitable organization. Happy stitching, my friends, and may everyone have a great weekend!

Making Purple Progress

This is the last Saturday for PURPLE here at Angela's Rainbow Scrappy Challenge. On Thursday (and maybe a day or two sooner) she'll announce the next color. In the meantime, I'll show you what I managed to sew this past week with purple.

#1 Purple Irish Courthouse

#2 Purple Irish Courthouse

#3 Purple Irish Courthouse

All Three Purple Irish Courthouse Blocks Together

And just for good measure, I surrounded these three with just a few of their buddies to get an idea of how we're looking.

I like it! But it has raised a question: I counted through my pile and came up with 15 of these blocks. This being June, the 6th month, and since I'm doing three/month, I should have 18 blocks. Now to go back and figure out what month I neglected to do. It's always something, isn't it? Ha!

Have a great weekend! I'll be linking up and checking out what my RSC friends have been up to RIGHT HERE!

I Like Thursday #39

Welcome back or just plain welcome! I'll start my  "likes" this week with a double-like -- I like to bake. My husband likes pies. Put the two together with peach season and you get a fresh peach pie.

I followed this recipe from All Recipes. I'd certainly make it again but I wouldn't use quite that much fresh lemon juice. I like my peach pie on the sweet side. Pardon my crust, please. I had a fresh Pillsbury crust  that I used on the bottom but that top crust? It was an older local-store brand and I'm glad I used it up on the top. I don't think it would have held up to be the main crust. It's rustic ... let's go with that, shall we?

We had such a cool, wet spring here in the Midwest that the hydrangeas have gone berserk! This little one was in a floral basket many years ago and has never bloomed in the garden. It didn't help when hubby used Round-Up on it. Hubby wasn't familiar with the new plant and thought it was a weed. This year we're looking good and actually have blooms! You'll have to look hard!

I also love the tall pink spikes of my astilbe. It reminds me of my Dad's best friend Mel every year when it blooms. He recommended this perennial to me. I transplanted a flower that was next to it to give it more room a couple of years ago and it is really spreading. Isn't it pretty? Love my hollyhocks too!

I'm getting close to the end of my current book, "The Dry". I'm enjoying it a lot and would recommend it so far.

Our heat wave has broken and the weather has been nice lately. That has meant a bit more yard work. Tuesday I filled a 2-gallon container with weed killer and strolled around the gardens squirting the weeds. Then I really put in some time (a little over an hour) walking the dam and squirting down the weeds there. Yesterday I went to Mom's house and trimmed back her forsythia and filled the "Yard Waste" container to the brim and then some. Two weeks ago I filled the same container with the trimmings from the azalea and rhododendron. So much work since we were basically gone for the month of May when all of this should have been taken care of. Yoi!

I hope you've had a good week too. Look around! I think you'll be amazed at all the good things around you. You can also check out other bloggers' likes at Not Afraid of Color. Goodness is everywhere. Sometimes you just have to look!

RSC Purples

Good  morning and here we go with purple blocks .... sort of. If you remember, last week I made the purple lotus block. This week I decided to play catch up with the red one. I picked out my two fabrics (one red and one background) and started it off. One huge HST begins it all. I think these fabrics will make a pretty block.

I still have my purple pieces picked out and cut -- ready to sew into the Irish Courthouse blocks. No thread has met the fabric on those yet!

I have started work on the Positivity Quilt. I thought we were linking up today with the first 24 blocks and I was sad because I only have 12 finished. Hooray! I looked at the schedule and I'm not behind at all. I'm right on time! I decided to use a small jelly roll bundle called Harmony Cotton Cooler #3 by QT, Twenty-four 2-1/2" strips. Aren't they pretty?

I love gray for a background color so I went stash diving, followed by starching & cutting. Here are my first 12 blocks.

Six blocks with a light gray background and six more with a light gray background. Let's see what else I can find this week!

Linking up with Angela at SoScrappy and the other Rainbow Scrap quilters. Have a great week!

I Like Thursday #38

Yup! It's Thursday and I've got a few happy thoughts & things to share with you this week. I'll be joining the others who share their happiness every Thursday also on LeeAnna's blog Not Afraid of Color. Stop on over there to see what the others have been up to this week as well.

This week started with a stop by the local produce stand after quilting with friends last Saturday. I had noticed the day before that they were having a shrimp & crayfish boil. Mom & I were looking forward to that so we headed over to pick up a take-out box to go with our wine at home. Here's the face of a happy camper! We both love "mud bugs" and managed to plow through almost all of that pile! Do you like crawdads?

I finished knitting my socks. I really like how they turned out. The pattern once again is "Eternal Spring" by Very Busy Monkey. You can find the Ravelry link HERE.

A couple of days ago, I started a new book called "The Dry" written by Jane Harper. It is set in Australia so sometimes the wording is a little strange to me but I'm getting the gist of it. Of course it's a murder mystery, my favorite type of book! I heard of this book through a recommendation of a fellow blogger (can't remember exactly who right at the moment) but then heard from another blogger that she also enjoyed it but figured out the mystery way too early. I read as I fall asleep every night so I'm not all that sharp by that time of day. Probably won't figure it out until the very last page! Haha! You can read what its all about HERE.

Speaking of falling asleep, yesterday was hubby's surgery. What a long day! The alarm was set for 3:30am so I could get dressed and take Gracie for a short walk. She does her "constitutional" every morning down at the bike trail and I didn't know when I'd be back home. Turns out I was home around 4pm so I had plenty of time to get her out again, call Mom, pour a glass of wine, and watch Jeopardy. I didn't get a lot of answers but at least it was routine! Guess that would be another like - I like Jeopardy and I sure do miss Alex Trebek. Can't say that I'm overly thrilled with Savannah Guthrie as guest host but, then again, I'm definitely not her biggest fan anyway.

OK, so I got home, got organized, and discovered I was hungry. I'd packed a sandwich for the hospital and ate it at 9:30am. My 4am Cocoa Puffs were long gone! Ha! Anyway, I found a little of my son's pulled smoked pork and promptly made myself a plate of nachos with the pork. Easy AND DELICIOUS!

The avocado was thrown on for good measure! Just looking at this picture makes me salivate all over again! Hahaha!

That pretty much sums up my week. I'll be heading back over to the hospital this morning. I've already walked Gracie and will head up for a shower. Hope your day is shaping up too!

Purple, A Flimsy Finish, and a Quilt Show!

My local quilt guild, Hearts 'n' Hands, presents a quilt show every other year. We were supposed to have one this year, but we weren't able to meet this past year to prepare for it. So, the Quilt Show Committee decided to have a virtual quilt show! Besides displaying over 200 quilts, there is also a 12-minute bed-turning and a few vendors! You can check it all out On This Link. There are some really pretty quilts in here which just goes to show the talent of this group. Maybe you should grab a cup of coffee to enjoy the show!

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge's color for June is purple. Nice pick, Angela! Last month I had a hard getting any sewing time in but I am determined to make a better effort this month. My sewing group met yesterday for some "sewing with friends" time. I prepared by selecting & cutting fabric Thursday night and got the Lotus block sewn Friday. Yay! Purple!

While I was packing up my car this morning, look what I found under the handle of my Explorer. I moved him out to take his picture.

Cute little tree frog. I love their song! After I moved him using a twig, he sang his little heart out on the window sill.

Last Tuesday I met with my LQS's UFO Challenge group. This group meets every other month so it was nice to see these gals again.  At the end of the last meeting, Cindy (our fearless leader) pulled #2 so the project I was to work on that corresponded with #2 was the Halloween BOM. Turns out the pattern was called Sew Spooky and it was copyrighted 2012. That means that I probably started this project in 2012 or 2013. Time to get it done. What put me behind was the candy corn border. I was terrified to sew strips together, then cut triangles out of it along with a background fabric, and then sew it back together and still have a straight row. So now I had to in order to get this project finished ... and I did!

Scary Candy Corn Border. Ha!

It really wasn't as hard as I had thought it would be but I must say that it took me a LONG time to get done. I was being so very careful. Then it was time to sew on all the borders, including the bat border that I worked on in the car on my way to MD! You can see all about that HERE.

And here is the finished top. I say finished but there are a few buttons that still need to be sewn on. I can't do that until it is quilted which will probably be another UFO Challenge project for next year! This quilt, besides satisfying one of the projects for the 2021 UFO Challenge, is also on my 2021 PHD list. Hip! Hip! Hooray! For double-dipping!

Sew Spooky complete with spooky sky behind it!

This was a fun quilt to make. Some of the blocks had pieces from a panel. Some had applique some of which I did in wool and others I did on the machine. Some had embroidery. Here's a close-up of the blocks.

Block with Wool Pumpkins and Crow

Wool Ghosts
Panel Windows
Embroidered "BOO"

Panel Barn Door with Embroidered Cobwebs
Embroidered Cobweb Windmill

Wool Moon and Broom Bristles
Panel Lower Windows & Witch's Feet
Embroidered Cobwebs in Windows

Wool Cat & Star
Embroidered Smoke
"Flappy" Quilt (See Below)

 

Pretty sure I mentioned that I was going to sew with Laundry Basket Designs (Edyta Sitar). Last month, the day after Mother's Day started this block a day SAL. Of course going out of town put me way behind. Let's be honest though. I was behind before we left. Anyway,  Edyta did her quilt in blues & whites. I decided to sew mine in browns & creams. I worked on Blocks 4 & 5 today.

Blocks #4 - 100% Finished

Sneak Peek at Block #5

Because I certainly didn't have enough going on while socializing with my friends, I also had another set of blocks in the works. These will be my RSC May (Red) Irish Courthouse blocks.

I did start sewing them a bit right before I left but decided to leave them for Saturday. Did I mention we sew for two days!!??! Lucky me! It'll probably be my last hurrah for a while as Hubby goes in for his surgical hernia repair on Wednesday. Show time 5:30am. UGH!

Let's not think about that for now and just bask in my finished flimsy. Here's one last photo and it's a close-up!

I'll see you back here next week if not before. 

I Like Thursday #36

Happy Thursday and you know what that means! I'll be sharing a few things that have tickled me or gave me a smile over the past week. There are several of us that enjoy doing this and you can find the group's posts over at Not Afraid of Color. Thank you, LeeAnna, for this weekly opportunity!

My first like has been the French Open Tennis Tournament (aka Roland Garros). I have to say that I don't enjoy watching TV too much but the four major tennis tournaments are always on my radar! The tournaments are two weeks long and, even though I had company during the first week, I managed to watch quite a bit. These last four days will have me sitting on the couch with hand stitching or knitting in my lap.

Speaking of knitting, I'm happy with the progress on my latest pair of socks. This has been a fun pattern to knit by Very Busy Monkey. It is called Eternal Spring. My latest progress photo is shown below.

I really like fresh vegetables and I enjoy seeing my brother's rewards from his garden. Wish we lived closer!

Fresh beans picked upon my brother's return from Colorado

He even grows beets! Now I'm really jealous. I love beets!!!

This past week we really enjoyed our visit with Brody. His parents are pretty cool too! Haha!

Jared fishing; Brody watching; Gracie supervising

Little fish caught in the pond. Thrown back after the picture to grow up.

We were sad to see them go home but we know that we'll be seeing them after Fred heals up from his upcoming surgery. Brody enjoyed breakfast at the Holiday Inn on the way home but he really liked being with his dog at home again.

I hope you've stayed the course with me this far. I really, really like my guild Hearts 'n' Hands. We are located in O'Fallon IL. Due to Covid restrictions over the past year, we were unable to plan for our quilt show which was to be held this year. So as to keep it going as conditions permitted, the Quilt Show Committee decided to do a virtual quilt show! They did a fabulous job! Click on THIS LINK and you will be taken directly there. There are 200+ quilts made by our talented group listed by both makers &  sizes, a virtual vendor mall, and a wonderful bed-turning held at our local Historical Society building! I don't think you'll be disappointed! (I've got 7 quilts in the show!)

And that pretty much sums up my "likes" for the week. Don't forget to visit our quilt show and also visit Not Afraid of Color to see what others have shared this week!

Looking For My "Normal"

May doesn't feel like it existed sewing-wise and our normal (boring) routines went out the window during the month as well. We packed up the car at the beginning of May to travel from IL to MD for a quick visit with Brody and then on to NC for my niece's graduation from UNC-Wilmington.

We were home for ten days catching up on house chores and getting the bills paid. Laundry was completed and we packed up for CO. First stop was to check in on my sister-in-law in Loveland and catch up with her health and well-being. Then we headed south to Colorado Springs for my nephew's graduation from the Air Force Academy.

We got home on May 28th and we've had company ever since. It's been fun with full days. Unfortunately, between being in the kennel for 8 days followed by all the excitement of company, our Gracie came up lame and in A LOT of pain. We took her to the vet on Tuesday to find out that she "has the knees of an 85-year-old". Diagnosed with osteoarthritis, she has been on pain meds all week with another week or so to go. We will then go into pain management for this sweet girl but the vet said that her walks are very good for her.

So as you can probably guess, I haven't been all that productive lately in the sewing room. My green socks are coming right along though.

Angela has chosen purple for June's RSC. Since I didn't get anything done for May (red) and I had some reds out on my cutting table, I cut a couple of Irish Courthouse blocks out. Nothing sewn but at least ready to go!

Purples will also get cut & ready to sew later this week. In the meantime, I squared up my 14 bats and sewed them up for the borders. Now I'm finishing up their seams with wool applique stars. Check it out! Purple star! Sew Spooky is getting close to being a finished top!!

Have a good week! The heat is on announcing summer's arrival finally and Mom has bushes that need trimming!