I Like Thurs #22

Here we are another Thursday and there is plenty to like. Thank goodness for that to counteract any and all the dislikes, right?

My main Like today is we finally had measurable snow yesterday! Maybe 2" here, a little more down by my Mom's. We typically have 15-ish" for the year and so far we've VERY down. I have two more likes to share to celebrate ALL THAT SNOW!

I finally took Snowmen & Churches out for her photo shoot! Besides the soft colors, I love the borders that look knitted! Her final measurements were 58" x 71" -- such a nice snuggle quilt! I actually finished this quilt last month. .It was part of my 2020 UFO Challenge at my local quilt shop. I had also put it on my 2020PHD list. Thankfully I didn't have to have pictures for this sweet quilt to qualify for the two challenges!

I tried to get a picture of the quilting. The way I managed the quilting: I laid the quilt on a light box before layering her up and traced a snowflake design on the large blocks. I used a water soluble pen to get the marks out after she was finished. Plain orange peel-like quilting in the 9-patches.

I used a light blue thread (King Tut Baby Moses #928) to quilt her up. It blended it nicely with the Warm & Natural 80/20 batting.

And, of course, a picture of the back. I inserted a strip of 9-patches using some leftover fabrics through the center for a little extra length. Thank goodness I had some leftovers because this kit only gave me 4 yards of fabric for backing for the 71" long quilt. And look at the fabric, it's dimensional (wrong word here but I'm brain-cramping to come up with the right word) so I couldn't just patch up a bunch of pieces! YOI!

And it's Gracie-approved!

This morning I also hung up Walking In a Winter Wonderland. I figured it snowed so let's get this house decked out with snowmen!

Of course it's a little long but doesn't it look pretty with the Snowmen & Churches quilt? And this set-up is Polly-approved! Lol!

I finished reading "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman. It had some good spots that made me think and/or made me laugh. Other than that it was a little disappointing. I much preferred his other books ("Beartown", "A Man Called Ove", and "Your Grandmother Told Me to Tell You She's Sorry") but maybe you might like it. Maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea, as they say.

I am currently about halfway through listening to "The Chain" by Adrian McKinty. I'm still very interested in this book and looking forward to seeing how this one ends. If you forgot what this book is about, click HERE where I originally mentioned it.

We quilters like to nibble and I have a super LIKE this week. I've tried these Dot's Homestyle Pretzels in the Original Flavor and they are very delicious so I decided to try this flavor too.

OMG! So delicious!!! They're made in North Dakota and are slowly making their way through the Midwest. I had to laugh when I watched 3 young adults excitedly grabbing several bags each. I spoke to them and they explained that they were visiting from Tennessee and they can't get these there. They were so excited! If you can get your hands on these, you'll be amazed how good they taste too!

Isn't this cardinal mug rug pretty?!!? My best friend made it for me. I broke it out the other day and it's perfect now since we got snow. Now you know why I love my friend!

One last like for me this week: I took Mom to the doctor this past week. Her blood pressure was 115/67 and the doc said she was in great shape especially since she only takes a thyroid pill. When we got back to her house, she had a voicemail requesting she call back to schedule her COVID vaccination which she did. This afternoon she'll be getting her first shot and she already has her appointment on Feb. 26 for her second shot. Whether it works or not depends on who you're talking to but we figure she gets her flu shot so why not a Corona shot too? She has no known allergies so what's the harm? She's looking forward to feeling a little safer and that mindset is enough for me to stand behind her.

Have a great week, everyone! I'm linking up with LeeAnne to share my likes. I'll be stopping by later to see what the others are sharing too!

FNwF & RSC

It was so nice to get together last night with my sewing friends near & far. Cheryll is so sweet to host this event monthly. If you go to Gone Stitchin' you will find a lot of fun things going on! As soon as I got the invitation, I knew what I was going to work on .... and I actually did what I was planning to do!

First up was to finish off my pair of knitted socks. Here's a picture of one, the other is soaking for blocking. I'll post a complete write-up when both are all pretty & blocked!

Since I knew that wouldn't take too terribly long, I ran down to my sewing space and finished sewing on the binding of Snowmen & Churches. All I had left to do was sew the two ends together and then sew down the last 10 or so inches. On to hand sewing the binding down! Yay!

I'm looking forward to finishing this one up. I started it many moons ago. There will definitely be a final post just as soon as I git 'er done! This quilt is my bonus project for my LQS's 2020 UFO Challenge and it is also part of my 2020 PHD. I'm itching to get done with this quilt so I can get back to finishing up the Tiny Tuesday quilt!

I'm also sharing this post with all the RSC quilters on Angela's So Scrappy blog. I figured since I mentioned Tiny Tuesday this post will be OK to share there too!

Until next time, make it a great weekend!

Checking in with Angela

 After going on vacation last weekend, my days are so mixed up! I posted my I Like Thursday post on Wednesday and I've been a mess ever since. Thank goodness I've got my sewing because any AND every day is a great day to sew! Am I right? Hahaha!

I managed one Easy Peasy block.

Mostly I've been doing the quilting using my domestic sewing machine. Snowmen & Churches is coming right along. The main part of the quilt is done. Next up -- the borders! This project counts towards my LQS's UFO Challenge and I also put it on my 2020PHD list so it is on a deadline. Here's a sneak peak.

My embroidered little woolies are coming right along too. I work on these while watching TV in the evening. I started working on the candle last night. They will be cut to finish 4".

Of course since I was on vacation, I started a pair of socks. The pattern is Chequer Socks by Very Busy Monkey. I love her patterns which are all on Ravelry. Anyway, I finished the leg portion and have just finished the heel flap.

As soon as I finish Snowmen & Churches, I'll be back on Tiny Tuesday. I am so close to finishing it and hated putting it away for S&C but the latter took priority at the moment.

Linking up with Angela at So Scrappy with all the other Rainbow Scrap Challengers even though I haven't been RSCing lately. Have a great week and enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner. We do truly have a lot to be thankful for even if this year we have to look a little harder.

November PHD Report

Today I'd like to share my finishes for October. First up was the President's Challenge with my quilt guild. It was due in May, but obviously we didn't meet. Then it was set up for Zoom but due to one reason or another it was postponed from September to October to November. All participants have been asked to send a photo of our finished projects for a PowerPoint presentation at our next guild meeting, November 10th. Because the reveal is in just a few short days, I feel comfortable sharing mine here now.

Here were the rules:

I used every piece of fabric from the swap; I added the striped fabric for the base; my added fabric was the light blue (middle clam on the bottom row); and I initialed and dated my pouch on the off-white stripe on the left (not sure if you can see it but it's there!).

My 2nd finish was this sweet wall hanging. The pattern is by Sherri Falls of This 'n' That. It was the October project for a mini-of-the-month. I saw this pattern at a retreat several years ago and loved it so I ordered the pattern. Then it languished for a while and I finally brought it out at a retreat and made the kitty blocks. Then it languished again. I decided this was the year to finish it up. I gave it to my daughter during last month's visit.

     

One other finish was my needlepoint coin purse. I made one from a kit 10 years ago. Time to make another as the original morning glory one was wearing out. Found a new kit while on vacation in October and actually started & finished the turtle coin purse in the same month!

As for open-ended starts, of course I had a few of those too! I started a Wool Christmas Mini. There are twelve 4" blocks. Simple blocks with embroidery to jazz it up! I finished the wreath and Christmas tree and also made a good start on Rudolph.

       

For my LQS 2020 UFO Challenge, I'll be quilting up my Snowman Quilt which is due December 8th. I marked the quilting design the other night. The project was a kit and the top was completed YEARS AGO at a retreat. Here's a quick pic:

There's a piece of fabric marked binding and another marked backing. This quilt finishes at 71" long and it looks like I have only 4 yards for the backing. That'll only make a 72" long piece. My brains are rolling with this new dilemma. I saved the extra fabric from making the top so I'll just have to start cutting and see what I come up with. Probably get a pieced insert to extent the length.

I also made a re-start on a project offered through my guild. The group, Twisted Mystery, was scheduled to meet once a month but of course that was nixed early this year. Our leader has decided that we will meet every other Saturday on Zoom and work on getting our projects done! I'm a little behind and don't have anything to really show yet but I'll be working on it as diligently as possible.

So my list to work on over the next few weeks?

• Quilt, bind, and label the Snowman Quilt.
• Finish quilting, then bind & label Tiny Tuesday.
• Finish the blocks for the Wool Christmas Mini.
• Catch up on my blocks for Heartfire Hexies.
• Get a start on finishing up Awesome Land.
• Catch up Twisted Mystery quilt which I think I'm naming Election 2020 quilt.

Guess that ought to keep me busy, right?

Linking up with Quilting Gail for the PHD party. Wonder how much progress the others have made!

So Much To Cover .....

First up is my PHD (Projects Half Done) report. I was hoping to get Tiny Tuesday to a finished topper stage and I did!

I was also hoping to get some of the quilting started on it and I have. I started ditch quilting from the bottom right corner (which is partially covered by garden) and worked my way up to the top and started down the second column.

Yesterday I got as far as finishing the butterfly, 5th one down, so progress has been made. Tiny Tuesday is also my project for the UFO Challenge at my local quilt shop.

I also finished up another smaller project but it's a gift so there'll be more of that one later when it has been officially given. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, especially with the quilting on it! More later, I promise. In the meantime, here's a little teaser.

As for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge I didn't get anything yellow sewn. However you can look at the background quilting I did on the TT little yellow fishes block and the yellow 9-patch block! Trying my best to stick with the yellow theme! Lol! As you can probably tell, I'm pretty consumed with getting the quilting done on this project.

Friday Night with Friends was last night. I worked on Afternoon Delight block #28. It went from this ....

to this!

This one is done!

What else have I been up to lately? Well, I knitted these adorable little kitties for my grandkitties! I'll be seeing them the week after next. Hope they like them. Otherwise my daughter can use them for zipper pulls, shade pulls, or whatever. You can find the free pattern here for Tiny Window Cat.

My orchid bloomed this week. Apparently it's trying to keep with the yellow RSC theme too!

Other than that, I've been trying to get a few things around the house settled because we are planning a trip back East. We'll be spending next week with my brother in NC and then on for a week in MD to visit our kids and Brody. Sadly I've been behind on reading what my cyber friends have been working on because my time has been taken up with getting this show on the road. Maybe I'll be able to catch up a little while cruising down the interstate!

Have a great week!

Linking up with Quilting Gail for PHD HERE, Angela at SoScrappy for the RSC HERE, and Cheryll at Gone Stitchin' HERE for FNwF. Pshew!

Red is Coming to an End

We are nearing the end of September which means the end of "Red Month". My fellow quilters are betting on yellow for October. Will they be correct? We will find out from Angela on Thursday, October 1! And speaking of Angela,  she has provided our Linky Party for us Rainbow Scrappers to share our RED and whatever else we have going on. You can enjoy visiting at SoScrappy here too!

I finally finished up ALL the red Awesome Land blocks. Last but not least was #9 who is dressed for Christmas!

And here it is with the other eight red blocks.

This being the 9th month that I've been working on these, I've grown quite a stack!

I'm looking forward to October's color (yellow?) and then trying to figure out how I want these all laid out. Probably won't finish until sometime next year.

In the meantime, I've been happily knitting along. Finished my socks! The one on the wooden form is just finishing up blocking, still a little damp. The other one is done!

Pattern: Destination Unknown
Designer: Very Busy Monkey
Yarn: Blue Moon Socks That Rock Lightweight

These socks are going to be so WONDERFUL this winter. They're soft, they're squishy, they're beautiful!

Afternoon Delight had another block finished this week. This is #27 and check it out -- bits of red!

I hope you stayed with me this far. Here's the biggie for the week ..... drum roll, please! My Tiny Tuesday quilt top is all together! So many fun little blocks. So much fun working on this top. Thank you, Angela, once again for helping us all stay on track. This was the official (?) RSC2019 quilt.

So cute all dappled in the sun & shade

My layout

I can also share with you that yesterday I got it pin-basted and I'm itching to get started quilting this one up. The size at this point is 59" x 78". That'll make a nice couch quilt when I'm done!

Fred & I decided Thursday was going to be the day for us to get our bloodwork done for the doctor. We were both due in the Spring but due to COVID & honey's kidney woes it was delayed. We like to celebrate getting our fasting bloodwork done by the vampires by treating ourselves to breakfast out. We went to the usual IHOP to discover that outside dining was the only option. Thankfully we were a late breakfast couple because only 6 of the 10 or 12 outside tables had guests. It was a beautiful morning and we had great service from Mary.

Ahhhhhh! Food & coffee at last!

Honey enjoying the fresh air & my company, of course!
(Still got the red theme going! Check out the red umbrellas!)

Fred is doing much better, Thank you all for the prayers, hugs, and best wishes. We see the kidney doc this Wednesday and hopefully we will be DONE! Fred still needs to put back on some weight, gain some strength, drink more water, and stay off the smokes! (Don't I sound like such a nag?!? Lol!)

Wishing everyone a good weekend!

FNSI & RSC Reports

Oh my goodness, it's hard to post anything as nice as our weather has turned lately. No heat! No humidity! That makes me a happy girl!! I know there are those out there that think it's too cool already. I think it's perfect weather for fall clean-up in the yard. Those early morning temps are perfect for walking the dog. Speaking of Gracie, she is thrilled with the lower temperatures. She's truly a 50s girl!

Yesterday and today we have the privilege to dog-sit the dogs next door. Gracie just loves to romp with the boys but they're getting up in years and they can't play like they used to. 70 pounds of happiness that is leaping and jumping at them is just a little too much for them to handle for long.

Gracie & Odie

Odie looking for his folks

Last night was Friday Night Sew In and I decided I felt like knitting. My socks are really coming along. I'm on the 4th pattern chart and it is going quickly now. I'll be knitting the toes soon and finishing them up. I love this yarn. It's really soft and squishy. When I take the final picture of the completed socks, I'll give all the details. In the meantime, just imagine!

Many thanks to Wendy at Sugarlane Designs for getting us all together virtually for some sewing (or knitting) with like-minded folks. I'm linking up with her there and will spend some time visiting to see all the beautiful things everyone worked on last night.

Red is really going well for September's color of the month. I think that's what I like about the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Every month there is a focus color. Here are the six blocks I managed to sew this week.

When added to the two I finished the previous two weeks, they look like this. Only one more to go of the Awesome Land blocks this month! I'll be sharing my red progress on Angela's So Scrappy blog along with many others. Such beautiful work to admire there!

These blocks have actually been my leaders & enders for an even bigger project. Last year we made Tiny Tuesday blocks with the RSC. The blocks finished 4.5" and then they were framed either straight or on point to finish 7". I'm working on getting this quilt DONE!

I decided that my 44 blocks were not enough and what a funny number to have gotten done. I looked back on Angela's blog and found a couple of bonus blocks after deciding I wanted 48 blocks total. So I counted up how many of each color I had and then I counted up how many were set on point and how many were set straight. Turns out I needed one extra yellow, orange, purple, and green block -- 3 needed to be on point and 1 set straight.

I also decided that I would turn four Tiny Tuesday blocks into one larger block, adding a 2" sashing strip with a tiny 4-patch center. I managed to get 4 of these done and I am LOVING how they are turning out! Here are my first four in no particular order.

(The orange block was an additional block)

The purple block was a bonus block

And here they are laying together.

Here is a picture of  my organization. Looks more like chaos but there really is a rhyme and a reason to this mess. The Tiny Tuesday blocks are grouped in fours and the 4-patch that will go with them is attached too.

I'm thinking I will separate the larger blocks with 3" sashing and scrappy 9-patches. You know, just a larger version of the squares. Thoughts?

Lately we've had a praying mantis visit our hummingbird feeders. DH says the larger mantises will actually catch and kill my hummingbirds. We've pried him off with a stick and removed him but he has returned three times now. Each removal he was relocated further and further. The last time was to the far side of our property into the woods. I'm keeping an eye out for him everyday. Looks like he's keeping an eye out for me too!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I hope Fall has returned to your area. Enjoy!