Purple Sewing Began This Week

Last night was the 3rd Friday of the month and that meant it was Friday Night Sew-In. I thought it was high time I started on another cross-stitch project. This pattern has been hanging around the house for years, sometimes lost and sometimes right under my nose. Time to get a move-on!

Old Pattern, New Project

My Grand Start!

Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge color this month is PURPLE! I'd bet there's not a lot of people out there that do not like purple. It's a wonderful color and sure brightens up the hot, humid weather we've been dealing with lately. If it's not scorching here in Southern Illinois, then it's raining. It is what it is because it's mid-July.

Because I'd already cut out the pieces for Gem Tones, I thought that might be a great place to start this week. Over a couple of days I managed to complete one of two blocks!

Purple Gem Tones #1

Polly Approved!

In between sewing the 16" finished block, I used The Quilting Life BOM for my leader & ender. This month was a churn dash block in RSC Purple.

There was a PT appointment and hairdresser appointment this week and so I put a little time on my TAS (The Applique Society) UFO project. Here's a peek.

My best friend arrived last Tuesday and will be departing Tuesday this week. It's been nice having a fellow-quilter in the house. She has just started a Dear Jane project and her fabrics are beautiful as is her applique. I believe she said she has 14 of the 169 center blocks done. She's got a ways to go! I'll try to take a couple pictures for next week's update.

Keep stitching wherever you are! Have a great weekend!

Linking up with Wendy at Sugarlane Designs and Angela at SoScrappy.

FNSI & More Orange for RSC

Last night was the 3rd Friday of the month and I remembered to sign up for Friday Night Sew-In. I made it a point to incorporate a bit of orange for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2025-style. Wow! My brain worked on two fronts! Lol!

This hexie was finished up

This one was started.
Update: Finished this afternoon

We are sweltering here in the Midwest. This morning Gracie & I walked out the door around 7am and just about melted. Tomorrow and the next couple of days promise to be even worse breathing weather. Summer officially arrived yesterday and I can safely say it has arrived this weekend with a vengeance.

I hope you find a place to hide from the heat if you are experiencing my weather too. Reading what others are sewing is a GREAT way to pass the time ... in air conditioning, of course!

Friday Night With Friends HERE. Thank you, Wendy, for the reminder!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge HERE. Thanks go to Angela who even gathered us together while away on vacation!

Blues, Browns, & Tumblers!

I've been trying to catch up on all things quilting, including this blog. I was absent due to a trip to be with Brody on his 5th birthday and then a couple days later my niece for a bridal shower. You can catch up on those events HERE if you like but I warn you -- it is very picture heavy.

Since this is my quilty blog, let's get down to business. Working on my Red Threads (which I'm doing in brown), my latest ones are shown below.

Last night was Friday Night Sew In with Wendy & Friends. I traced out a couple more Red Threads blocks and got to work on one. Here's my progress from yesterday.

I'm still working on pineapple blocks and trying to keep up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Any shade of blue was selected for June's activities so here we are. I need to dig through my green scraps and get the tops sewn on these pineapples. I think they turning out pretty good!

My friend Sharon & I go to an AccuQuilt Club monthly and it was suggested we make Tumbler Flags using our dies. Let me just say that these tumblers went together beautifully! I'm just about finished with the quilting on this project and then I'll need to sew on the binding. I think I'll have it finished by Club meeting this Thursday, don't you?

The Stars were Fussy-Cut

There is also a block that I'll need to make for the exchange and that should also go together in a snap.

We are hot, hot, hot here in the St. Louis area. I know we are not the only region suffering from the heat but, really, it's a super chore to walk the dog in the mornings. Looking forward to some relief one day ....

Linking up with Wendy at Sugarlane Designs to see how everyone's Friday Night Sew In went. Then on to Angela at SoScrappy to see how my Blues Sisters are doing with their RSC projects!

Friday Night Sew-In

Friday Night Sew-In was tonight. I thank Wendy for getting us together every third Friday of the month. This month it lands really early but that's fine with me. My Friday night sewing started early too but it was right on time Australian time! Every Friday I take Mom to the hairdresser and I take something to sew on during that hour or so. My Red Threads embroidery project is my "ole reliable" on Fridays.

In order to be ready, first thing Friday morning I traced out my block. Good thing because new blocks post on Fridays! Yup, officially a week behind again! Haha! I took my project bag with me to the hairdresser's.

I continued later in the evening while watching Laundry Basket Quilt's Wednesday YouTube video and then Primitive Gatherings' Thursday YouTube video. Made pretty good progress.

If you look closely, you can see that there is plenty more to go.

On the RSC Red front, you may or may not have seen that I finished my Valentine pillow just in time -- on February 13th. Of course it's red!

At this month's Quilt Club, I shared my Valentine table runner. My friend Connie brought it to my attention that it was posted on the LQS's FaceBook page.

I got to thinking this week. I'm supposed to be making more pineapple blocks! EEK! I need to get busy!

We got 4" of snow yesterday. It was forecast for maybe 1-2"  with nothing going to stick due to warm roads so our snow crews were not prepared. It is very unusual for our subdivision to not be plowed OR salt treated. Gracie and I still managed a mile and a half walk this morning though and BRRRRR! Was it ever cold again!

Have a great Presidents' Day weekend! I'll be snuggled up indoors wRhile seeing what the RSC quilters were up to this week right HERE.

I've Been Having Fun!

Yes, I've been away from blogging for a while but it's been because I've been having FUN! My sister (Linda) who lives in TX has been visiting! I'm pretty sure you understand now, right? Of course you do!

What did we do while she was here? We visited three quilt stores, had a mini retreat over 2 days at a local quilt shop, enjoyed Tips & Techniques at another quilt shop, cooked meals together, tended to Mom together, went though a few things at Mom's house, and visited a local apple orchard. We walked Gracie every day and paddleboated most evenings. All in all, we had a GREAT visit. And through it all, Fred cleaned the kitchen, made sure Mom was OK when we played away from home, managed a couple of appointments made for the house, and, generally speaking, held down the fort without complaint. The last part being most important. Thank you.

Linda left yesterday and I was off to get Mom to hair weekly hair appointment so Friday Night With Friends started early. While Mom got her hair done, I finished most of my EPP project. Then while watching TV last night, I officially finished the sewing and started removing the papers. Here it is, front & back.

There's a little RSC turquoise in here too!

Some of the papers removed from the center

While on the 2-day mini retreat, I managed to complete three blocks for Twilight Stars QAL with Primitive Gatherings.

Accidentally made this block with the dark in the middle

The actual "assigned" blocks for this week

Then it was time to do a little serious RSC sewing. Got four turquoise/teal pineapples sewn up. Obviously they're missing their tops at this point but that will get done before month's end.

Besides a little secret sewing and a little shopping, I had to laugh at this stitchery in the bathroom.

I hope you have a great weekend. I'll be pulling out papers from my EPP and working on the last Uptown block!

Linking with Wendy @ Sugarlane Designs for FNSI and Angela @ SoScrappy for RSC.

August FNSI -- Going Around in Circles

This weekend marks Friday Night Sew-In with my global friends. Wendy from Sugarlane Designs organizes this group every 3rd Friday of the month. You can catch up on all the doings HERE if you like.

As for me, I decided I wanted to finish up the July block for the Uptown sew-along. Here's how I started Friday afternoon.

I could easily tell that it was going to be sloppy in the middle. Others had commented that it was a difficult block. I had decided it would be OK to get the outside looking decent and then do what it takes to get the center right. What do you think?

Ta! Da! Looking like it was meant to be! Ha!

While I was at it making circles for centers, I decided to also finish up the Dresden plate block from EPP Club at my LQS.

Very productive weekend. Thank you, Wendy, for gathering us up once again. See you next month!

RSC Lt/Bright Blue & Friday Night Sew-In

Fridays are always on the busy side around here. Mom has a standing hair appointment at 11:15 about a half hour away. Makes for a quick breakfast and away I scoot Mother. Yesterday we had a list of errands to run. Her driver's license expires on her birthday and, since she doesn't want to renew it (or they won't give her one at her age anyway -- her words! Ha!),  since her hair was all "purty", we headed over to DMV to get her state ID. Afterwards it was off to Swansea to pick up bird (aka squirrel) food and pick up a flyer from the grocery store. Next stop was her favorite grocery store to browse -- Fresh Thyme. If you aren't familiar with that one, it's similar to Whole Foods. We browsed and shopped and folks wished her a happy birthday everywhere we went. When we got home, we discovered that we forgot to pick up the shrimp! Thankfully (huh?) we have to go back down that way today, Saturday, as she's got Terminix visiting her house this morning. Whew! Is it no wonder that I haven't had much time to sit at a sewing machine?? Haha! It's all good though, of course.

While Mom got her hair done, I worked on my English Paper Piecing project for the month. Better get moving on it since we meet again this Wednesday! I also picked it up after dinner. Thank you, Friday Night Sew-In, for giving me the perfect reason to sit down & relax with fabric in my lap!

Apple Core pieces I managed to baste.
Ten more black ones to go

The layout I plan to use

As for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I cut out some light/bright blue pieces along with some background ones. They will turn into the pineapples for my RSC project.

Mess to become pineapples!

Other works in progress include a mystery SAL organized by The Fat Quarter Shop called Haunted Halloween. It'll be a small wall hanging. You can read about it in my I Like Thursday post. I included a link to get you started on it if you're interested!

Clue #1 - Haunted Halloween

I'll be enjoying what others have managed to work on at the links below. Come join us!

Wendy @ Sugarlane Designs -- Friday Night Sew-In

Angela @ SoScrappy -- Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Have a wonderful Father's Day weekend. We'll be celebrating Mom's 90th birthday this weekend as well!

FNSI & RSC Orange Progress!

Angela has chosen ORANGE as our color for May in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I am thrilled to share with you the orange pineapples I made over the past week.

Four Orange Pineapples

I also have a Chubby Charmer tote that I can share today. I'd hinted at it last month but couldn't show pictures since it was a gift. It has now been officially gifted! Check out all that orange!

Summer Chubby Charmer

Gifted to Sarah

Last month's chosen color PURPLE was a bust due to so much travel and the prep that goes with it. Since I finished up my orange pineapples, I thought it was a good idea to play catch-up with the purple pineapples. Progress was made there also.

Just Need to Make & Attach the Tops

Last night was Friday Night Sew-In with my global sewing friends. I made progress on my cross- stitch project called Spring Stamps. It was a freebie offered by my good friend Melisa at Pinker 'n Punkin' Quilting. You can see what happened across the globe HERE at Wendy's Sugarlane Designs blog.

Making Progress!

Yesterday was Sarah's last day with us. No one wants to have a super busy day the day before they're going to drive 13 hours home and especially not after a 4-day work conference. We made the most of it by going to Grafton's River Dock for lunch. We enjoyed watching the barges go up the Mississippi River while we ate & chatted and left before the rain arrived. The waitress offered to take our picture and we accepted.

Our Gang
Look at My Orange Shirt!

As always, we had a great visit with our daughter. The Chihuly art at the Botanical Garden was fun and lunch on the river was a relaxing last day. Polly will be able to breathe a little easier once she realizes the "houseguests" have departed, although Gracie will be looking for her "friends" for several days to come.

Jake

Penny, the Polly-Stalker

Safe travels to this happy family.

Linking with Angela and the other scrappy quilters at So Scrappy. Have a great week!

March FNwF and RSC Green

It was Friday Night Sew-In with the gals last night. My day started with getting Mom to her hairdresser and surviving the horrible rain & wind. Why do we have such bad weather every Friday when we take Mom to the beauty parlor?? I took along my latest EPP hand project to work on while she got gussied up. We then continued to dodge the rain as we ran a couple errands afterwards. After making it home safely but leaving everything in the car, I talked with my sister for a couple of hours. Finally the rain let up so I could run to the car and bring in the groceries, clothing, and my stitching. After dinner, it was time to give my brother a birthday call and then settle in for Blue Bloods on TV. During the show I continued to get a little more stitching in. Here's my English Paper Piecing project so far. Man, are the pieces TINY!!! The white triangles are only 1" on the sides.

One completed unit

Another one in the makings

Angela of Rainbow Scrap Challenge has announced that GREEN will be the color for March. Great motivation for me to finish off both of my St. Patty's Day decorations -- the Good Luck wall hanging and the Shamrock Pillow!

In the meantime, there has been no progress in either of those nor the Quadrille QAL. Best get moving. Have a great weekend!

FNSI and a Bit More

Friday Night Sew-In started a little early for me as I went downstairs to the sewing space early in the evening. I put in quite a bit of time quilting a baby quilt that will be soon be gifted. I need to stay on pace to have it done in time.

I don't know how dark a blue has to be to be considered Dark Blue for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge but I'll take it!

I'm thinking this sweet gingham will be perfect for the binding. It got starched before I came back upstairs.

My knitted socks are finished. The pattern was Kazak Socks by Hunter Hammersen. I used a beautiful denim blue sock yarn by Invictus. I think they qualify for Dark Blue! Seen here they're drying after blocking.

I'm also happy to report that my Rudolph pillow top is finished! I need to get a zipper for the back and get it finished off. I think it'll make a good Christmas 2023 present!

So that's what has been keeping me off the streets at night. Hope your weekend is going swell! Tomorrow is Chinese New Year. Will you make egg rolls? Eat fried rice?  I saw this Egg Roll Bowl recipe and will probably make it this week.

As we learned while stationed in Hawaii, "Kung Hee Fat Choy!" My spelling might be off but I'm wishing you a Happy New Year!

You can click on these links if you'd like to see what the other quilters did at FNSI and RSC.

FNSI but no RSC

Last night was the last Friday Night Sew In for 2022. I'll be looking forward to sewing with Wendy and all my cyber quilters again next year. Here's to all our projects for FNSI 2023!

Last night I sat down to start this really cute Rudolph Christmas pillow. Got the pattern traced to my fusible and cut out.

Next step was to apply the fusible to the wool and then cut it all out on the lines. After ironing it on the beautiful flannel background, it looked like this. I need to find my Clover white pen to trace the writing that goes on this project and then get started stitching this down!

Now that that was done, I thought I'd get a start on the Uptown BOM for December. I got it all traced onto the proper fabrics and quite a bit of it glued down for the first round of applique. All that's left is a couple of heart-shapes and giant leaves!

Hope you're having a good weekend. Mine has started off pretty good!

FNSI and a Bit More

Last night was the third Friday of November, meaning Friday Night Sew-In with the virtual ladies. Unfortunately I was too tired to stitch since I'd been up since WAY before dawn. My hip (did I mention I think I have bursitis?) was really ailing me, enough that I couldn't lay still. So I got up. It may have been since I'd sat in the car all day Wednesday to go to A to Z Quilt Store to get my All-Illinois Shop Hop prize, the AccuQuilt Go! Baby cutter. Or it could've been that walking all over the Scott AFB BX and then the commissary the very next day was just too much hard-floor walking. Might also have been a combo, right?

So earlier in the day I finished the "innards" of the next Illusions Sampler BOM. This is October's block. Did I ever mention how much I dislike sewing square-in-a-square blocks? Haha!

Later that evening it was all I could do to knit a bit on a sock I'd started earlier in the week for FNSI. I'll look up the particulars of the pattern another time. Last night I started the gusset after turning the heel the night before. I'm using a pretty gray yarn that I got from Invictus Yarns. I'd won a $30 gift certificate through a Ravelry knit group called Verybusymonkey Knitters. I love Stephanie's patterns and she's behind Very Busy Monkey. Anyway, here's my progress.

Right now I'd also like to give a shout-out to Aaron for the fabulous job he did cleaning and tuning up both of my Berninas. He used to work out of Batiks Plus in St. Louis but the shop is closing or may already have closed. He's currently working on landing in another shop. In the meantime, he picked up my machines on Tuesday, cleaned and adjusted them, and then returned them to my door on Thursday! A 2-day turn around! Amazing!!! If you're in the area and need your Bernina to get a spa-treatment, contact him through his email, aaronsmachinerepail@gmail.com . Correction: aaronsmachinerepair@gmail.com .Your machine will thank you!

So that's my latest! Have a great weekend!

Linking up with Wendy @ Sugarlane Designs for Friday Night Sew-In and also with Angela @ So Scrappy for Rainbow Scrap Quilters.