What's With No Pink???

I think this Rainbow Scrap Challenge needs to give me nudge. This is all I got done as far as pink this week.

They need a little trim, then made into HSTs and they'll be ready for the zigzag border for String-X. I believe I may have forgotten to mention that for some reason I went back and measured my String-X blocks and discovered that I was off by 1/2". That meant that the previous zigzag border pieces were off so I can happily report that they were unsewn, recut, and resewn. Perfect! A little aggravating but I'm glad I thought about it before I had the entire border ready to sew on!

And speaking of pink, Thursday morning at 1:10am I got a new & healthy grandson. Now that's the best pink I've seen all week! Welcome to the world, Jacob Thomas! I'll post a picture when I get permission from his parents. *wink*

I'll be linking up with my friends at SoScrappy for RSC2022!

I Like Thursday #71

LeeAnna has once again gathered us up on her blog Not Afraid of Color to talk about things that we've liked this week. You know, things that make us happy and smile. For a bright spot in your day, you should visit her site and see all the fun posts.

Let's start with my happy plants. First off, my lettuce has started to sprout in the garden. No pictures yet but I'll share soon. The picture I did take was of my orchid. It has bloomed non-stop with anywhere between 1 and 5 blooms since OCTOBER! Every time we leave on a trip, it slows down and gets down to one bloom but after I'm home again, watering it consistently, ta da! Flowers! I really like this plant. (I hope I didn't just jinx it!)

This picture is a spiderwort plant. My daughter gave me a sprout off her own plant and repotted it for me. It must be happy -- it is blooming! Such a delicate purple flower!

Speaking of purple, I finished knitting a pair of purple mittens for me. They were a fun knit from one of my favorite designers, Very Busy Monkey. This pattern is called Woodland Sage Mittens. You can find it here on Ravelry.

Look how perfectly they fit! I'm almost looking forward to winter again! I said ALMOST! Ha!

Check out these two. My brother has twin daughters. The one graduated from college last year and the other graduates next month. The May graduate recently acquired a dog. His name is Mac and he is a sweetie. I understand that he had several young owners that quickly became disillusioned with the responsibility that he brought. He is now a house-broken good boy who even goes to work with his mama. The kitty belongs to the already-graduated twin. This kitty came from a friend of hers that could no longer keep the cat. His name is Waldo and he is deaf! He's wonderful company for Mac when he visits. Aren't they adorable!!??!!

Another "critter" like for Thursday is this nest. I climbed up on a ladder under our deck to see that the robins have certainly been busy. I spied the nest not too long ago but now we have four blue eggs! Something to watch while I quilt down in the basement.

My last "like" would be my Thursday this week. I'm writing this up early because I will be on a bus Thursday morning heading to Paducah, KY, for the annual American Quilters Society Quilt Show! I will for sure have plenty of pictures for next week. I'm very excited to go. There will be beautiful quilts and loads of vendors. The Boy Scouts always have a strawberry shortcake stand for their fund raiser and I plan on helping them out!

Next week I'll talk about the book I'm reading. Bet I'll be finished with it by then. Until next time, don't forget to take some time to appreciate the little things in life. Have a great week!

A Little Pink Happened and a Finish!

Since I kept having troubles with reading my daily blogs due to Bloglovin being unavailable most of this week again, I have switched over to Feedly to read the posts from my cyber friends. Yea! So happy to have this alternative. Fingers crossed that this feed never deserts us like Bloglovin seems to have done.

As for Rainbow Scrap Challenge, this month is pink so I pulled out my pink bin and set to work on my hexies. Have you ever thought about how many shades of pink there are? Well, I decided to focus on light pink and bright pink. The center hexis were cut-offs from when I made the Winnie the Pooh baby quilt. I like the look!

When I noticed my azalea was blooming today, I knew we had to go for a photo shoot. Pretty in pink!

Let me explain one thing about this pretty pink plant. Many years ago I went to the nursery in search of a rhododendron. That's what I really wanted and yet I came home with this azalea. Why? Because this variety was called "Olga" and that's my grandmother's name (my Dad's mother). How could I resist?? So here's another picture of dear Olga with my hexis.

Now I also have a finish to show you. This is a Kathy Schmitz design called "Spring Has Sprung". You may remember I took the embroidered piece to retreat where I finished off the borders and the little accent quilt. In the meantime, I quilted and bound it. Of course the last thing I needed to do was hang it.

I think it really turned out pretty and it will hang until mid- to late-May. That's when all the patriotic summertime quilts come out!

I'll leave you with one final picture of what I'm currently working on. I'm getting ready to quilt another project and it keeps with the pink theme we've got going with Angela's RSC.

Have a great weekend and, if you have a few minutes, hop on over to SoScrappy to see what other pink projects are happening!

I Like Thursday #70

Here we are on another fine Thursday being given another chance to share positive thoughts. Thank you to LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color for giving us this opportunity.

Last week I told you how much I enjoyed the book "What Alice Forgot" by Liane Moriarty. What's next for me to read? A couple of days ago I started "Finding Freedom: A Cook's Story; Remaking a Life From Scratch" by Erin French. Here's a quick blurb from Goodreads.com on what it's about:

"From Erin French, owner and chef of the critically acclaimed The Lost Kitchen, a TIME world dining destination, a life-affirming memoir about survival, renewal, and finding a community to lift her up."

So far I'm really enjoying this book.

Easter dinner was a roaster chicken that I stuffed. Today there were showers and it was damp and cold. I boiled down the bones and made chicken soup. I threw in celery, onion, carrots, potatoes, peas, and spinach. So tasty! We like to eat homemade soup.

Look at the beautiful tulips on my header photo. Today I noticed that they had changed color, turning a deeper pink. From light pink to dark pink, these flowers are a joy to see each morning.

We recently watched "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" on Hulu. Jessica Chastain, who played Tammy Faye, won the Oscar for Best Actress. RottenTomatoes.com summed up the movie like this:

"THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE is an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. In the 1970s and 80s, Tammy Faye and her husband, Jim Bakker, rose from humble beginnings to create the world's largest religious broadcasting network and theme park, and were revered for their message of love, acceptance and prosperity. Tammy Faye was legendary for her indelible eyelashes, her idiosyncratic singing, and her eagerness to embrace people from all walks of life. However, it wasn't long before financial improprieties, scheming rivals, and scandal toppled their carefully constructed empire."

All three of us enjoyed this movie -- Hubby, Mom, and me.

Lately I've been very disappointed in Bloglovin.com being down. Again they went off this weekend and I haven't caught them up at all this week. This leaves me unable to read the blogs that I enjoy following, I mentioned my problem to Diann at Little Penguin Quilts and she said that she reads blogs on Feedly.com. So guess what? I switched over to Feedly this weekend and have been working to catch up on missed blogs and setting up my feed. I REALLY LIKE the close-knit "family" of bloggers. Thank you, Diann, for helping me out during this frustrating time.

Wishing everyone a good week!

EWSI and a RSC tease.

So Bloglovin is down again. That means I can't catch up on my fellow bloggers and their progress. Oh my! I'll go ahead and show you what I managed to do this weekend. Wendy, our lovely hostess of FNSI (Friday Night Sew In), changed it up for the entire Easter weekend. She's calling it EWSI (Easter Weekend Sew In). I'll be heading over to Sugarland Designs if and when Bloglovin returns so I can see my cyber friends' posts. I'll bet a lot got done this weekend!

I finished up the first Woodland Sage Mitten (pattern by Very Busy Monkey on Ravely) on Wednesday.

Time to start on mitten #2. I'm actually a little further along than this picture shows but not much.

Mitten #2

I also made a couple of pillowcases that will be gifted later next month so no pictures. As if that wasn't enough, I also completed April's block for my LQS BOM, Illusions Sampler. They are 24" blocks and there are a lot of pieces. Not only are they interesting blocks, but they are quite challenging too! Such pretty fabrics too!

If you thought that was plenty to accomplish, I also managed to prep 14 hexis during a Zoom meeting on Saturday. I hope to get them sewn up for RSC next Saturday ... that is if Bloglovin is back up & running! UGH!

This afternoon I weeded & prepped a small section of the garden and got some lettuce seeds planted. We were expecting rain later in the day and for once the prediction was correct. Ha! Hopefully we'll have fresh lettuce in about a month. I went heavy on the arugula seeds because I love arugula the most!

Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend!

I Like Thurs #69

Hot diggity! Bloglovin is back just in time for me to post my Thursday likes this week. It'd been down since the weekend. It's up & running again so I'll be able to post a few likes with all of us upbeat bloggers with Leeanna at Not Afraid of Color. Let's get started!

Brody loves to help his mommy. Here he is "supervising" her while she's working at home.

If you're squeamish, it's ok if you skip this part. Here's Mom waiting to be seen by the doctor. She's  looking a bit like Edith Ann! Ha!

She was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma.

We got that sucker excised Tuesday. Good riddance! Nothing left but a hole that should heal up just fine. My brother said it looks like a volcano! Hahaha!

Are the flowers looking lovely in your neighborhood? Ours are so I'll share a few pics.

Daffodils surrounding old railroad posts

Beautiful daffodils in my neighbor's yard

Gorgeous pink tulips down by the bike trail

Crabapple (?) tree growing wild in the woods on the bike trail

I finished the book "What Alice Forgot" by Liane Moriarty. It was a good read with humor and a provocative storyline. I recommend this one!

This Sunday is Easter. I'm wishing you all a blessed weekend and hope you can hold in your heart what Easter is all about. Peace to you, my friends.

I Like Thursday #68

Whew! It's been a while. We've been out of town to my son's house in Maryland to attend the "sprinkle" for my grandson who is due April 27. But that doesn't mean I didn't score a few likes. Look at these silly geese! I spied them sitting and honking from the rooftop of my neighbor's house.

My beautiful niece Jennifer had the opportunity to visit NYC with her boyfriend's sister. Here they are on the Circle Line Ferry with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

When we returned from our recent trip to Maryland, Gracie was exhausted after her week in the kennel. Doesn't she look so sweet?

My sister-in-law and her husband were visiting up here from Texas. We managed to coordinate a lunch with them. And I actually remembered to snap a picture of the gang!

Teresa (niece), Betty (Fred's local sister), Samantha (Fred's sister from Texas),
Dean (Samantha's husband), and my hubby Fred

Fred, Dean, me, Teresa, and Samantha

My daughter has always been crazy about goats. Her friend saw an event listed at a local cidery that had baby goats available to cuddle. That is one happy and pretty face! (The cidery is called Lost Boys Cidery and is in Alexandria VA.)

I really like seeing my Lenten Rose is full bloom. I just love this plant!

The twin sister of the niece that went to NYC went hiking with her boyfriend. Kelli & Alex enjoy camping & hiking a lot and try to make time to do so often. I like that someone else in my family likes walking!

Kelli has a sweet dog named Mac. Mac likes to go hiking too!

Thank you, Leeanna, for waiting patiently for me to get back to posting my likes. I'm grateful for all my frineds, especially my quilty friends! I'll try to set aside some time to see what all they've been up to as well. I'll do that by visiting Not Afraid of Color and you're invited too!

I hope you have a great week!

FNwF April Fool's

Friday Night with Friends is always a welcome evening. Sewing with my cyber friends is the icing on the cake, especially when there are new TV shows on my favorite TV-watching evening. Magnum PI always takes me back to when we spent five years living in Hawaii and Blue Bloods is a show with a good story and a family with wonderful ideals.

So what did I sew? I worked on Uptown's March block. The April block went live Friday morning so I thought I'd better get a move-on with March. Doesn't look like much at this point but it's going to be really pretty (fingers crossed!).

Just a bunch of miscellaneous pieces appliqued down at this point. I hope to have this block finished by the end of Sunday! There's a whole lot of laundry that's accumulated this month due to traveling and my sister's visit but handwork is always good to have close-at-hand in between loads, right?

Linking up with my cyber sisters thanks to Cheryll at Gone Stitchin'. Let's hop on over to see what everyone else worked on!

March Wrap-Up: Retreat, Sprinkle, and Home Again

This month has been a whirlwind of activity with not much quilting to report. Was it a great month nonetheless? You betcha!

My sister drove up from Texas to spend time with all of us. Midway through her visit, we sisters got to spend SPECIAL time because we went to Sprague's Kinderhook Lodge in Illinois. To give you a little better idea of its location, it is about 20 minutes due east of Hannibal MO, home of Mark Twain and two quilt stores with another quilt store about 30 minutes north. Heaven on Earth!

Linda and I had a great time and I sewed a cloth book, The Pokey Little Puppy. I already gave it away without taking a picture. Drat! But I get to count a yard of fabric gone for the Stashbuster Challenge run by Carole at From My Carolina Home.  I also completed the March block for the Illusions Sampler, my LQS's BOM. The drunkard's path blocks were fun!

I also finished the top of this Spring wall hanging by Kathy Schmitz. The embroidery was completed a long time ago but all of the piecing (including the little paper-pieced quilt in the middle) was finished at the retreat. Once I get it quilted up I'll be able to report that fabric in the Stashbuster Challenge too! Need to get a move on this one!

Four days after my sister left, we left for Maryland to attend the "sprinkle" (mini-shower) for my grandson, due April 27th. Here are a few pictures from the "sprinkle" and our visit.

Of course we had to give a St. Louis Cardinals onsie!

Brody loved the Hooters Hider, made & given by Mom's hairdresser Mary.

Jared got a new clock to keep everyone on time.

Sarah & I enjoyed watching the antics from the only seat we could find!

Brody was exhausted from all the excitement.

Another highlight to the sprinkle was my cousin Fran & her husband John drove down from NY. What a surprise! It is always wonderful to see them and my mother was thrilled beyond belief!

The day afterwards, we went to Sarah's condo to relax and enjoy some peace & quiet. Penny made herself at home in Fred's lap.

Gus is pretty sure that the recliner in the nursery is there for him!

We always enjoy seeing Amanda's family
(from L to R: Sharon (mother), Lucy (niece), and Emily (sister)

We got home on March 30, in time for Mom's doctor appointment on the 31st and to get Gracie "out of jail"! Haha!

So you can see that not a lot of time was dedicated to quilting. I did accomplish a little bit for March's RSC Yellow & Gold.

A couple of hexis

I also worked on String-X. The yellow block is in the middle of the quilt so I couldn't do any of the scrappy zigzag border. Instead I grabbed a piece of yellow fabric from my stash and used it up for a narrow inner border.

For my March PHD report, nada. Nothing finished but several in the works! Wish me luck on April progress! I'll be linking up and checking in with my friends after a long absence. Can't wait to get back in the swing again!

Linking up with Angela at SoScrappy for RSC, Gail at Quilting Gail for PHD, and reporting stash enhancements & depletions with Carole at From My Carolina Home for the Stashbuster Challenge.