OMG! Not only one finish ... BUT TWO!

I'm celebrating a proud moment in my life. I actually have two finished quilts this month, one of which I only started this month! Both of these quilts were started AND now finished in 2022! Let me start with the first.

Remembering Betsy was a free pattern from Pam Buda's blog Heartspun Quilts. I am noticing that it is no longer free but it is still available HERE as a digital download. The sew along started at the end of May and really didn't take long to sew. My ambition was to have it finished by 4th of July. So that didn't happen although I did start the sewing in June with my monthly-ish sewing group. I finished the quilting and binding just recently. It looks good up for summer and I'll keep it up through Labor Day. May I present Remembering Betsy!

This little quilt measures 15"x15" and is adorable. The 44 flying geese measure 2"x1". The reds are scrappy and the blue churn dash blocks are the same individually but each one is different from the others. I just knew I'd love this quilt and I do!

A couple close-up pictures of the front to give you an idea of the quilting and scrappiness. Love the polka dot binding!

A couple pictures of the back. Who doesn't love a sweet toile?

Complete with label.

But wait! There's more! Recently on retreat I started a sweet little baby quilt. I talked about the top being finished HERE. Officially the pattern named it Jolly Bar Meringue Quilt. I call it Pennants. Last week I layered & pin basted and this week I quilted it and got it bound. Ta! Da! Another finished quilt! Here is Pennants hanging around the garden.

Showing off the binding and a little bit of backing.

I quilted it with what I'm calling "reverse pennants". I used a variegated gold thread because I thought the top colors were warm and I'm very happy with my choice. It looks gorgeous on the gray background fabric too. The green binding? Well, it was the only fabric I could find that I had enough to get the job done and match the top. Besides, everyone knows green's my favorite color! Ha! The backing was a piece leftover from Shark Bite. So everything about this quilt was from my stash, including the Jolly Bar that I won a long time ago. Major win!

What a great month for me. Yesterday the mailman brought me the thread I'd ordered to quilt Twistie, the Positivity 2022 quilt. Let the fun continue!

I Like Thursday #82

I'm looking back through my pictures and I'm not sure what happened. I know there must have been plenty of likes throughout the week. Let's see what I can dig up.

I do like knowing what I'm going to back my quilt tops with and I did manage some of that this week. I like productivity!

Jolly Bar Meringue Quilt,
aka Pennants

Autumn Jubilee 2021

I like that the heat broke for a little while here in the mid-to-upper Midwest. Unfortunately, my sister in Texas is still suffering with 100+ degree temps. I'm sure we'll have more heat coming our way since we haven't even gotten to August yet but at least we have a break for a few days. Here's a picture of Jacob staring at the ceiling fan. He looks how I was feeling when we had that long stretch of Feels Like temperatures hovering around 110.

Here's a better picture of Jacob. He's really growing like a weed!

Not to be outdone, here's our other "little man", Brody. He's starting to talk FINALLY!!! It's not super intelligible but at least he's trying. Not much talking when there's food in front of him though!

Our prompt today from our hostess is what is our preferred clothing in summer. Mine is jean shorts, T-shirt, and sandals. Here's a group photo from last week's retreat. You can see I'm wearing my usual summer attire. Nothing fancy ... way too hot.

I'm still reading "The Night Tiger". I'm a bit over 100 pages in and wondering where the story is taking me. I like the story but it feels like maybe this book was originally written in a different language and has been translated. It's interesting but not sure if I'll be recommending it to Mom or you either. Stay tuned.

That's my likes for the week. I hope you've had plenty to like as well. Head on over to Not Afraid of Color if you'd like to read more likes!

What a Week!

I worked furiously the week before last on my Twistie quilt hoping to get the top finished by this past Monday and show it off in all the Linky Parties. Then reality set in ... I could make myself crazy (are you perhaps thinking crazier?) or I could just relax and finish it up all in good time. Which is exactly what I did. You see, I had to get ready for a Tuesday through Friday retreat!

For my I Like Thurs #81 post, I'll start with I like quilt retreats. I only see the majority of this group twice a year. Most of them come down from the Springfield IL area. I live about two hours south of them. One of the ladies went all through school with one of my guild friends and that is how I squeezed my way into this group! Ha! They are amazing quilters too and some of them brought in friends from elsewhere -- one from Chicago and another from Indiana! I really enjoy this group and am already looking forward to our next meeting in February 2023.

While there I worked on my snowman embroidery blocks. These were free blocks from Melisa @ Pinker n Punker Quilting & Stitching. I've shared the link with you. Please let her know if you are using her designs. They were so FUN! Anyway, it was time to finish up . this project... and I will get there with a little more stitching time!

From this ....

To this so far!

I also made a baby quilt top. I think I'll save it for a donation after I get it quilted, of course. The pattern is a freebie from Fat Quarter Shop called Jolly Bar Meringue Quilt. I won the Jolly Bar off of A Quilting Life blog a very long time ago. I'd never heard of a Jolly Bar, have you? It is basically a double-charm pack. Forty pieces of 5" x 10" fabric from one fabric line. The one I won was from the Creekside fabric line by Shari & Chelsi. The background fabric is the gray paisley that I'm using in Twistie. I did have to buy a Creative Grids 9-1/2" Perfect Rectangle Ruler. Didn't this turn out pretty!!??!! I got the whole idea from Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts blog post dated December 2018. You can definitely tell I've been percolating this idea for quite some time. Ha!

Want to see what some of the others worked on at retreat? Like a mini quilt show? I like it when I can see other people's quilts and will assume you do too. Always inspirational!

On the book front: I finished "Hello, Summer" by Mary Kay Andrews. It was definitely a fun read and I really needed it after reading the mind-bending "Shatter" by Michael Rebotham which I also could not put down. Up next is "The Night Tiger" by Yangsze Choo. I thought I'd try another "different for me" book. So far, so good! You can read what it's about here on Goodreads.

I think that's all the time I'll take up for today. Have a great weekend!

FNSI & RSC & More

Last night was Friday Night Sew-In with my virtual, global friends. We're brought together each 3rd Friday of the month by Wendy at Sugarlane Designs.

What kept me busy last night? FNSI and RSC2022 combined! The June Illusions Sampler block is complete. It even had a little purple in there!

That was followed by a bit of hexie prepping. The fabrics were chosen, the hexies were basted, and the layout decided. So many purples!

In the background, I've been madly sewing Positivity 2022 Twistie blocks. Only the center seam needs to be sewn on this last pile. I sure hope so anyway. I've counted my blocks several times over the course of making them but then threw out a couple of yucky blocks, only to find a few more prepped blocks that hadn't been sewn (or counted) yet! Whatever number these make, it's bound to be close to the 80 needed.

Have a wonderful week! You'll find me with my foot on the pedal, sewing like a crazy woman!

Sharing with SoScrappy for Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC2022) and with Sugarlane Designs for FNSI.

I Like Thursday #80

Happy Thursday! We've come around the week again to look back on whatever has made us smile, appreciate life, or just give us a "feel good" feeling. LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color is faithful for getting us together weekly to share these moments and, right off the bat, that's a good thing!

A couple of afternoons ago, I happened to look out my window and noticed I had company. She ate for quite a while as she moseyed through the yard and then, just like that, was gone.

My sister sent me this picture of her pretty kitty Lily. The caption was "Can you guess what she wants?" Hahaha! Yes, I can! Can you?

I love it when I'm sewing along, getting pretty excited because I'm just about done with a block. Then, when I go to press it .... OOPS! Do you see what's wrong? I like that I caught it before I'd sewn the borders on!

There! That's much better and I REALLY LIKE that!

I'll finish up with this picture of one of my neighbors' beautiful hibiscus flower. We have red ones and pink ones in the neighborhood but this is the only white one that I know of. What a beauty! 

May your week be full of many things that make you happy. Catch you next week!

I LIKE THURS #79

One more "Hooray for USA!" as the last of the 4th of July week comes to an end. My favorite neighborhood front porch was this one -- Uncle Sam saluting the American flag.

We didn't set off any of our own fireworks but I did have fireworks going off in my mouth! I like these Limited Edition Oreo cookies. Many thanks to my niece for recommending these last year!

Another "food like" was this display at our local grocery store. Every time I go back East, whether Maryland/Virginia or North Carolina, I pick up as many bags of Utz chips that I can fit in the car because for some reason we don't have them available here in IL. I know I can probably order some online but I don't care to do that. We've always had the Utz snack mixes & pretzels but not chips. I really like this display and the Sour Cream & Onion Ripple chips are my favorite!

The datura has started blooming on my front porch. My neighbor shares her "volunteer" flowers from the year before with me.

I 'm also sharing a couple of pictures of my front gardens. They're looking good right now and that makes me happy.

Who knows how long they'll look good. It's been unbearably hot lately. I took this screen shot of the weather in my town Tuesday afternoon. The heat was only supposed to last until Wednesday night but has now been extended until Friday morning. By the time this posts it may be extended into the weekend. It's HOT & MUGGY as you can see by the Feels Like temperature!

There was a little bunny on the trail Tuesday morning. You can tell it was hot already!

"Hello, Summer" by Mary Kay Andrews has entertained my reading this week. It's a light summer read and I've been enjoying it.

My cooking adventures this week included this Cream Cheese Pound Cake by Spend with Pennies. It was delicious. For dinner over last weekend I also made Jeff Mauro's Reverse Seared Ribeye. Rave reviews in this house because I cooked it medium rare. I wouldn't have minded it cooked just a little more. Both recipes are worth trying if they sound good to you and yours.

Have a good week, everyone! I hope you have a little time to visit the other "I Like Thursday" bloggers. There's usually plenty to like!

Linking with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

FNwF & RSC

Happy 4th of July weekend! We will be celebrating 246 years of our country's independence. No matter what side of the political aisle you stand, this is still a great country with more freedoms than anywhere else. May we continue to always enjoy those freedoms.

And now, on to what's been going on with me in the quilting room. Did you see my recent post of Delilah, the goat quilt that I finished for my daughter? You can catch the entire post HERE or you can just admire the photo below.

Since that quilting project was finished, it was time to start quilting Remembering Betsy. I got a good start on it.

I just love this toile I found in the stash and thought it worked perfectly!

Last night was the first Friday of July which meant Friday Night with Friends was game on! In between watching Wimbledon I worked on the Uptown blocks. I finished another leaf block and now have 9 completed and one prepped. I need a total of 12 so I'm almost there!

Then, during the evening while watching the Cardinals baseball game, I worked on the newly downloaded Uptown block for July. I prepped various parts and got this much appliqued down.

Although Angela announced last Saturday that purple would be the RSC color for July, July 1st was only yesterday (Friday). So I continued working with dark/bright blues. I am enjoying the process of making Twisties, the block that Preeti shared for Positivity QAL 2022 quilts. They are so fun! I'm up to 24 blocks with only 56 more to go! Woo! Hoo! Progress IS progress! And don't they look great!!??!

That's it for me today. I hope you're able to enjoy a leisurely weekend! I know I will!

Sharing with Cheryll @ Gone Stitchin' and with Angela @ SoScrappy.