Nearing the End of PINK RSC

It suddenly dawned on me that the end of May is approaching and I never did my pineapple blocks for the month. Timing was perfect as this is the last weekend of the month which means time to sew with my quilty friends Friday & Saturday while going home at night to sleep. Love this retreat and love all the ladies that I sew with during this retreat.

Yesterday I picked out the fabrics I wanted to use and which ones had enough to cut up for the pineapple blocks. First thing, after setting up my sewing station at retreat, I began the blocks. There was a lot to catch up with my friends but, by the end of my day, I had my three blocks sewn.

A close-up picture

This week I finished reading "Something to Hide" by Deborah Mogach. I enjoyed the story and it was interesting to see how the different tangled lives were going to be sorted out at the end. 

Again my timing was perfect. I finished this book the day my hold book, "The Frozen River" by Ariel Lawhon, became available! I'm sure this book was recommended to me by one of my blog friends but I can't remember which one. I'm about 100 pages in and it is very interesting and of course there is a mystery involved. 

You can see what GoodReads
has to say about it HERE

On the recipe front, I made a blueberry muffin loaf. It was suggested by Sherri at A Quilting Life. She has a Saturday Seven post each week and there's always a section on cooking. You can find the recipe by Smitten Kitchen HERE . Mom& I loved it and it stayed fresh in the refrigerator for quite a long time. You can find Sherri's Saturday Seven blog post HERE for May 25.

I also made an oldie but goodie to share at retreat this weekend. It's Kardea Brown's recipe for Lemon Pudding Pound Cake. So moist and delicious, not to mention easy! Find the recipe HERE.

Apparently misery really does love company. After finishing the puzzle I worked on with my sister, I recently started another one. This is another 1500 piece that I found in Mom's basement. It took me two days to turn all the pieces over!!!

Last Sunday hubby, Mom, & I joined the Senior Center for a daytime bus trip.

We enjoyed a family-style lunch at Castelli's up in Alton. They are known for their fried chicken and we enjoyed it so much since I don't cook that kind of food. Along with the chicken we ate salad, scrumptious bread (which we also don't usually have), mostaccioli, baked potato, green beans with bacon, and orange sherbet for dessert. We ate like hogs!

Next stop was the Alton Little Theater to see a community-theater performance of Singin' in the Rain. Wow! Was it spectacular! The theater was a wonderful venue and the play was well performed. We all agreed that it was a great time for a special occasion. We were celebrating Mother's Day with a nod also to Mom's upcoming 91st birthday in June.

I enjoyed the season finale of Survivor this week. I approved of the one chosen to win the million dollars. Sorry to see the season end for Blue Bloods, Elsbeth, and Tracker. Something to look forward to next season, right?

I'm linking up with Angela and friends at SoScrappy. Check out all the pink progress HERE.

Have a wonderful weekend and, if you're a tennis fan, the French Open starts on Sunday! Yay!

A Little Pink Coming Together for FNSI

I've been slowly getting my Strips & Nachos together. This is a Strip-a-Long with Gundrun Erla from GEDesigns. I must say that I enjoy sewing her patterns so I was ready, willing, and able to jump on board with this project.

All four rows (for a lap-sized quilt) have been sewn together including the end triangles. Last night I set about to getting the sashing strips sewn together and then assembled between the rows. I figured this was a good project to work on for Friday Night Sew-In! I did pretty good right up until I sewed the first two rows to the sashing. UCK! The triangles weren't matching up correctly! This is exactly what happens every time I hurry to throw something together. After unpicking, I carefully pinned making sure things were matching better. Then it was bedtime.

This morning, I sewed two rows with a sashing strip twice. Here's a picture of my progress. Don't the triangles match up nicely?! And again there's a little RSC pink involved!

Once more sashing strip to be sewn down the middle!

This week I finished another block for Red Threads.

I also discovered that the Chubby Charmer that I mailed off for a friend of my daughter's was delivered so I thought I was going to share it with you today. Hmmmm, guess I forgot to take pictures so you'll have to just take my word for it. It was so sweet. I did include this little quilt book that I tucked inside.

With all the storms we've had lately, the bike trail lost another tree. The guys came out and cleaned it up quickly. I thought the remnants looked pretty!

Thought you'd enjoy another Gracie shot!

We managed to squeeze in a lunch date with some family. A delicious BBQ lunch at Bandana's.

It was quite windy that day!

Linking up with all the participants at Friday Night Sew In & Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

Have a great weekend!

Week #2 of RSC Pink

Happy Mother's Day weekend! I hope you are able to enjoy it with your children and/or mother. We've been having beautiful weather here in southern IL and our trees and flowers have been putting on a show. I love this time of year.

First I would like to share with you a puzzle I started while my sister was visiting. I got it from my daughter and all 1000 pieces were challenging. So, thank you, dear daughter, it was a good one. And look, everyone, there's plenty of pink in it!

Looking at this puzzle is reminding me to share with you a picture of a hungry hawk. I caught him waiting for lunch by my bird feeder while sitting on the deck stair rail. Isn't he gorgeous??! (Pardon the fuzzy picture taken through the screen.)

And speaking of hungry, our little Jacob is very fond of ice cream. Turn up your volume to really appreciate how happy he is that his daddy is going to make some ice cream for him. This video just tickles me so much!!

Ok, back to the sewing room. I finished up two Red Threads blocks. I love the butterfly and it was a joy to stitch.

I've also been working away on Strips & Nachos by GEDesign. I think I may even get the top finished before Memorial Day! I managed to show a little pink off too!

"What Happened to the Bennetts?" is in the Already Read category now. Lisa Scottoline is a wonderful author and she did it again. This book is a real page-turner. If you're interested, you can get the GoodReads synopsis HERE.

Since I finished that book and, per my CloudLibrary app, I had 20 more days until I can check out "The Frozen River" by Ariel Lawhon, I went back and picked up "Something to Hide" by Deborah Moggach. Let's just say that by the time I reached page 50 I was hooked. It's got interesting situations going on all over the world and I just know it's all going to get tied up together. I'll keep reading to find out how!

GoodReads synopsis HERE

That's what's been happening around here this past week. Time to get Gracie out for a walk. Have a great weekend!

Sharing with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilters through Angela's SoScrappy blog.

PS I'm covered in pink calamine lotion (Ivarest, actually, which is a blend of calamine lotion and benadryl) due to the horrible pink poison ivy rash I've got going on. UCK but at least it's consistent with this month's color! Also seemingly effective on poison ivy is this:

And now I think it's time for another benadyl tablet. Night, night!

May RSC is PINK!

In case you couldn't tell by my new header picture and overall color of my blog, May's Rainbow Scrap Challenge is pink. I only just learned the new color when I read Angela's post yesterday and knew I'd better get my blog updated. How do you like those peonies? Gracie and I found them on our walk this morning. 

I apologize for getting so far behind but my sister came up from Texas for a visit. So busy and so much fun! While she was here, she took care of Mom & Polly (Gracie was kenneled) so hubby & I could take off for a 5-day Cousins Reunion which was held at a lodge at Lake Guntersville State Park, Alabama. It was a peaceful, beautiful location. Look at the view from our patio!

Here are also a few pictures of the gang.

All the cousins and their spouses

The cousins that were able to attend

The spouses that were able to attend

The group representing the FEHoover Family

After returning home, my sister was able to spend a few more days with us before driving south again. Of those last days, she and I managed to escape to a LQS to spend two days sewing, chatting, laughing, and catching up on anything and everything. Each late afternoon, we returned home to fix dinner and share company with Mom & Fred.

So now that you're all caught up with the social part of my current life, let's see what I've manage to sew. One thing I can tell you is that I sewed up another gift that needs to be shipped out. Until then, there's no picture and you'll just have to take my word for it. Ha! Red Threads embroidery blocks have progressed though.

Plus two more blocks were completed for the Lori Holt "Vintage Christmas" SAL at my local quilt shop.

A Christmas Present

The Drum

While I got another week behind on the Twilight Stars QAL, I did manage to knock out a non-current week. Two more stars to add to the growing pile.

And there was also progress made on my EPP project.

I'm sure this will come as no surprise but .... I started another project. It was a SAL with Gundrun Erla. The pattern is Strips & Nachos. I believe I mentioned it in an earlier post but now sewing has begun.

While Linda was here, we started a jigsaw puzzle together. It's 1000 pieces and has been proving quite challenging.

Mom & I enjoyed the Kentucky Derby yesterday. What a wonderful photo-finish to commemorate the 150th Kentucky Derby! Thank you for our hats goes to our used-to-be neighbor Karla and thank you goes to my BFF Vickie for visiting Churchill Downs and gifting me official cups for our mint juleps!

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend. I think today we'll be loving no rain here for a change. Maybe I'll get those daffodil bulbs I swiped from Mom's house planted in my own yard today ... before the next expected rain!

Sharing with Angela and the other RSC quilters at SoScrappy and also with Cheryll and others on Friday Night with Friends!