I Like Thursday #171

Another week has gone by and I've put off looking for an estate sale agent as well as a real estate agent. Also on my list of phone calls neglected was getting Mom & me in with a civilian PCM. The list just seems to always go on and on and on ... But we are back around to Thursday and I do have a few things to share!

Let's start with my birthday weekend. My birthday was on the 21st and it just happened to coincide with the sleep-in-your-own-bed retreat on the 21st & 22nd. Apparently there are several of us with January & February birthdays so one of the retreaters brought in a birthday cake with our names in hearts on it.

What did I work on while I was there? I appliqued 16 hearts down for a the start of a St. Patrick's Day pillow. My friend bought this kit for me so many years ago -- I can't even remember how long.

Friday night when I got home, we decided to go to Texas Roadhouse for my birthday dinner. It was a wonderful time, except for the 60+ minute wait for a table. Our server was great, the food was wonderful, and I got to go back to retreat the next day! Yippee!

Another birthday treat was my grocery store gave me a free donut. I chose a Mardi Gras one.

Another thing that really made me smile was one of my amaryllis plant started blooming. I don't know if you remember, but a neighbor has given me amaryllis plants for Christmas for the past several years (2022, 2023, & 2024). The one that has started to flower is called Minerva and is from 2023. It's beautiful with the white star through the middle of the flower.

I have four plants from 2022 & 2023 and they all have buds coming up. I'll keep you posted!

Mom had fun at PT this week. Here's a new "trick" they had her do on Monday. That pole is about 8 feet long and is very hard to "steer". First tap all the cones from right to left and then back again. She had to do this as fast as she could for 2 minutes with the last 30 seconds in turbo-time!

The next "trick" was three cones lined up in front of her from near to far. She said this was harder than side by side.

Look at that concentration!

Today they had her push a football trolley with 40 pounds of weight on top. I guess the trolley must weigh about 30-40 pounds because I was told that the total weight was 70-80 pounds. Mom only weights 100 pounds! Anyway, she had to push that trolley all around the room, then turn it around and backtrack the way she came. She was really puffing after that and needed to sit with a drink of water.

I've been trying to put in some time with the cross stitch project but it feels like it's taking forever. I've told myself I have to finish this one up before I start the new Spring project. Last seen ....

Progress up to now ...

More of the tree has been filled in
and red ornaments added

Still reading "The Quality of Silence" and enjoying it. I'm down to the last 20 or so pages so the end is definitely in sight. My next book will be one recommended by my daughter.

A major BIG LIKE is Survivor kicked off the new season Wednesday night! Whoop! Whoop! I'm looking forward to another good season!

This week was also a major score with personal care. I trimmed Mom's fingernails on Tuesday and cut Fred's hair on Wednesday. Polly better watch out because her claws are next! Ha!

Until next week, try to keep a positive attitude and enjoy the transition from Winter to Spring here in the northern hemisphere!

There's more to like over at LeeAnna's blog. Check it out HERE.

I Like Thursdays #170

Is everyone as excited as I am at the temperatures that we are assured by the weathermen will be coming in the next few days? Here in the Midwest we will be having our warm-up this weekend and into the next week. YIPPEE! Walking the dog in minus-double-digits wind chill is not nearly as enjoyable as in the Spring, for sure.

Since we last "spoke", Valentine's Day arrived. My honey knows what I like. Flowers are nice but chocolate is my passion!

Not sure if I shared these pictures of the grandkids with you but, if so, they are worth repeating. I think the looks on their faces are priceless! Goofy boys!

Have you ever heard of a sirloin cap roast? Also know as Coulotte and Picanha? Well, Mom & I ran into some at our local Fresh Thyme store. We didn't know what it was but thought we could give it a go. After checking internet resources, I decided that the way to go might be with my sous vide set-up. 

After seasoning it with a paste made from minced garlic & salt, I cooked it for about 4 hours at 133 degrees. It was WONDERFUL! Tender, juicy, delicious!

Here's a picture of someone else looking for dinner.

Taken through my kitchen window screen

I'm still reading The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton. It's another different kind of story by the same author of Afterwards. It's an interesting read and I'm trying to figure out the direction it is taking.

A glimpse at our weather. I really don't want to dwell on it.

Look at this face -- it's really cold, Mom, but you know I have to do "my business" out there.

And on that note, I'll sign off and check out what the others have shared today on our hostess's blog. There's sure to be some fun stuff HERE.

Late Again -- Not Surprising!

This morning was an early out-the-door morning here for me. It was time for our monthly TAS (The Applique Society) chapter meeting. I didn't make last month's meeting because I was at retreat so it was nice to see folks I don't see all the time. Our theme this time was Dresden plates, fans, circles, and sunbursts. We had a lot of show 'n' tell which is wonderful. I showed off my Dresden Stars, pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts. I also showed BOO, a pattern by Sewing With Susan. No picture of BOO, sorry.

As for my RSC quilting adventures, I did manage some progress. Here are two GemTones blocks in blue. The pattern was in the February issue of Am. Patchwork & Quilting.

Probably could've used a little more contrast.
Same story in the pink ones last month so it's OK with me.

 

I also decided to join Sherri Falls in her BOM on her blog The Quilting Life. I was going to do it last month in RSC colors but never got around to it. There was another RSC-er that did and it turned out beautifully!

Anyway, I did last month's block in RSC Pink.

Then, since I was on a roll, I made the February block in RSC Blue!

There will be twelve blocks total from The Quilting Life which she explained will make a table runner. I thought this might be a fun and yet practical project.

Block #2 of my Design Party Table Runner was also completed this week. This project is my take-along project to Mom's appointments. English Paper Piecing is good for that! I thought it turned out cute!

Needs a good pressing

I did start quilting my PINK AccuQuilt quilt last weekend. I stitched in the ditch the 12 blocks making up the quilt and just started ditch-quilting the borders. Looking forward to getting it stablized so the fun free-motion quilting can begin!

We are having a gloomy, gray day here in the St. Louis area and the forecast is very cold temps for next week. There are also no "bonus" appointments for Mom (other than the regular PT & hairdresser), so I hope to get some of that quilting done!

No sewing can get accomplished with the laptop at hand, so I'll sign off with the link to Angela's SoScrappy blog where there is more RSC sewing to view. Have a great weekend!

I Like Thurs #169

Last Thursday, the three of us joined the group at the Troy Senior Center for our monthly luncheon. We had chicken & dumplings, green beans & bacon, peaches, and a roll.

Of course we enjoyed dessert! We each got a delicious cookie and there were various ghiradelli chocolate pieces included in our baggy.

And there's always entertainment and this month we had The Nitpickers. They sang 60s, 70s, a little country, a little Elvis, a little Beatles .... so much fun and lots of singing!

I finished The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. Highly recommend it. It will keep your interest all the way to the end!

Can't just stop reading so I checked out The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton. If you recall I read Afterwards by the same author and thoroughly enjoyed that read. At the end of that book, the first chapter of her newest book was included. I read it and was curious about it. That "newest" book was The Quality of Silence and it took a little while for my library to get it in. I've just started it and I'm already into it.

Synopsis HERE

So what did you think of that SuperBowl? We decided it wasn't all that super of a game but we enjoyed wings. I made them with Kosmos Apple Chipotle sauce, which is a little sweet & a little spicy. It was perfect for Mom & me. (I got it from my son for Christmas last year and you can find it HERE on Amazon. Get some -- it's really good!) I made a separate sauce for Fred of BBQ sauce mixed with Honey Mustard sauce, a little Worchestershire, a little brown sugar. I got a thumbs up for it! Mom & I also imbibed a little Prosecco Rose. I think that's my new favorite "fancy" celebratory drink! I really LIKE it!

This week my workhorse Bernina had a trip to the spa. I love how my guy picks up my machine right at the house on a Tuesday and returns the machine to my doorstep the following Tuesday. He shows my machine a little love and I get door-to-door service! Gotta LIKE that!

Our January snow finally melted away, even where the plow piled up mounds. Then yesterday we got about an inch, maybe a little more. It'll be a cold day today with a high of 26 and tonight's low 11 but then we're in for a warming trend and actually expecting RAIN this weekend!!! Then they say the freezing temps will return. We'll see how it all plays out. In the meantime, you can find me getting Mom to PT today, her hairdresser tomorrow, and sewing every chance I get!

In between sewing I'll check out what these fine bloggers are finding interesting with their I Like Thursday posts. Feel free to join me HERE!

Where's the Blue???

I can't seem to find time for RSC Blue sewing. February is such a short month, I'd better get my mojo going or, before I know, it'll be March and a new color suggestion.

What I managed this week:

Used My AccuQuilt Baby to Cut the Pieces
for Two Blue GemTones Blocks

Leftover GemTones Fabrics for 
A-Maze-Zing Blocks

Pink AccuQuilt Quilt Pin-Basted and
Marked in BLUE for Quilting!

I worked last night a bit more on my cross-stitch project. I've made quite a bit of progress on it because I ordered a Spring project that I want to jump into when it arrives. UPDATE: Came in the mail this morning!

'Tis Spring by
With Thy Needle & Thread

This is the one I'll be putting aside so I can get going on my Spring pillow.

As Last Seen on January 30th Post

As of Today

To give you perspective on this December cross-stitch, it'll finish 6" x 4.5" approximately. It's very tiny with lots of teeny Xs.

That's about it on the Creative Front around here. I hope you have a super SuperBowl weekend! There's more to enjoy on Angela's SoScrappy post HERE and see what my friends got up to on this month's Friday Night with Friends evening. Cheryll corrals us up on Gone Stitchin' HERE.

No Blue Yet

Since today is only the start of February, I continued working on my January pink projects. This even though Angela was so kind as to give us a heads up that February's RSC color would be BLUE. So let's see what got done. (Not much.)

I decided that my scrappy, piecing blocks would be A-Maze-Zing ones. I believe it was Julie who introduced us to these as she made placemats through RSC2024. If you know me, I'm going big. My blocks will be 15" x 20" and I'll need 30 total for a nice-sized quilt. Since I only just decided on these this past week, I only got three part-ways finished. I'll have to continue on them while getting a few blue ones done too this month. I'll talk more about this pattern in the months ahead.

I also realized the end of the month was quickly approaching and no quilting projects were 100% finished. That meant nothing to report for Stashbuster2025! I was very close to having enough cut-offs and tidbits of fabric to get a pet bed sewn up so that's what I did. I'll donate it to my guild's charity group. It used up a half yard of fabric for the back & front and even has some pink!

Stashbuster 2025 Project

For those of you that remember my long-running project Brown Threads, I thought I'd share with you my friend's version. The original quilt was called Red Threads and was a redwork quilt. I chose brown threads and my sashing flying geese will be Kansas Troubles, Kim Diehl, and Fall-ish colors. I'm still working on the sashing strips at my monthly retreats and will continue until I get them all finished. In the meantime, here's a picture of Dorothy's quilt in teal/aqua fabrics. Isn't it gorgeous and what an inspiration for me to get mine done!

Besides the flying geese, I also worked on these tiny 4-patches. My local quilt store (Itch'n to be Stitch'n) is hosting a mystery quilt this year. She is also encouraging us to use up our scraps! Our first clue was given at the January meeting and the February meeting is quickly approaching. My 54 units will be completed this weekend.

42 of 54 Done

Thank you to Angela at SoScrappy to coordinating us Rainbow Scrap quilters. I hope you manage to click your way to her link to see what others have shared with their scraps. And a special thank-you to Carole of FromMyCarolinaHome who is doing her best to get us to whittle down our stash. Ha! Like that's gonna happen! Lol! Join in this challenge HERE.

Have a great weekend. Here should be a quiet couple of days after last week's multiple days out with Mom for PT twice, a dental appointment, and of course her weekly hair appointment which ends with a little grocery shopping too. Pshew! Exhausting! As for me? I'll try to get in some sewing!