New Color Soon!

As April is coming to an end, it brings the anticipation of what color Angela will choose for June for our Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This month we've been using up pink scraps. I chose Grandmother's Jewels for my main scrap project. For now, I'm planning on making more jewels for a larger quilt than shown below.

My Inspiration
Picture from Paper Pieces

My pink jewels made progress this month. It helps when I remember to pack my thimble for Mom's PT appointments! New total = 4.5 of 5 per month as my goal.

4.5 Out of 5

Last One Going Together

In spite of still needing the fifth green jewel, my stack is growing!

In gardening news, I got both rain barrels out of the basement and set up. We had rain this week and they are both full!

The Purple Minkee columbines have started blooming ...

And the front clematis is starting to open. I love this one's color!

I Spy Gracie!

Have a great weekend, friends, and don't forget to look in on Angela's blog to see what scrappiness others have dug up!

A Little RSC Pink and a Little I Like Thurs

This week I finished the 2nd Grandmother's Jewels. Only three more to go for this month. I have plenty of pink scraps so there isn't a shortage in that bin!

Pretty Jewels!

Spring has sprung around here. I've been working whenever I get a small chance to get a handle on the weeds and pruning. I hope to get some weed killer down on the bits I couldn't get pulled up. Then I'll lay down my newspapers and then some mulch on top of that. Let's hope I can get at least some of the gardens done this upcoming week! In the meantime, I've got some blooms to share.

Clematis is Blooming

Late-Blooming Daffodil
Bulbs From Mom's Yard

One Lone Amaryllis This Year

We had a visitor the other day. She was there all day but was gone by the next morning. She's a Luna Moth. I read up on her and she only lives for one week because she has no mouth. She conserves energy by just hanging out, trying to interest a mate for her hundreds of eggs. So sad!

I can share a finished project which always earns an atta-girl!

This & That Pattern Called Pumpkin Spice

On to the I Like Thurs prompt now. LeeAnna gave us this to work with:

"April 16  2026

what is your favorite daily routine? describe it to us... for example

wake early when others are asleep for the peace? Make list?"

I actually have two favorite daily routines. I do cherish my quiet mornings. Mom & Fred sleep in later than I do. I enjoy my coffee and wake up with games on my phone. First games are in the New York Times app:   Wordle and then Connections followed by Strands. I save Pips for last because it has a timer involved and I really need to be awake! I move on to a game of Spider Solitaire, then Blockadoku, and then, last but not least, I do a Mahjong Solitaire. All that takes about 30 minutes and then I wait to talk to my best friend, who lives in Knoxville TN. We chat for about 45 minutes most Mondays through Fridays. Then it's off to get dressed and walk my Gracie by 7am. We return around 8 and I can usually hear stirring going on upstairs and I know the day will officially begin in about a half hour.

My next favorite routine starts between 5:00 and 5:30pm. WINE TIME!!! 'Nuff said, right? Hahaha!

Please join all my friends to see what they are sharing.

LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for all the wonderful inspiration and happiness.

(Clearly I missed an update or something because LeeAnna's prompt apparently was favorite song to sing. No time to change my post now. Ugh! Sorry, LeeAnna!)

Also, Angela of SoScrappy for all things pink on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

My Hexagon Obsession

Angela has chosen aqua/turquoise as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month. Perfect choice since I've been obsessed with my Fishbowl Hexie project lately and there's plenty of aqua to be seen there. It's growing quickly as I assemble the main parts. There are more light hexies to go in the corners for the first outer border.

Currently 34" across at the Widest Point

Do you do English Paper Piecing? Should I remove all the papers now with the exception of the outer edges? Would that make LARGE assembly easier? I'd be interested to know your opinions on these questions.

Last week during one PT appointment, one hair appointment, and one podiatry appointment, I managed to applique just about all of both large flowers on Tangled Daisies (pattern by Jillily Studios).

Cross-stitching in the evening gives me a different kind of peace. I've been adding the lettering to Be Kind by Primrose Cottage Stitches. Slowly but surely, this project is coming along.

As for Gem Tones, I can tell you that both blocks have been fully cut out and the sewing may start this week. We also got our next clue for the mystery sew along from my local quilt shop. Maybe I'll work on that! Who knows what mood I'll be in later this week.

The All-Illinois Shop Hop started this month and will finish Sept 30. I've managed to squeeze in a few stores, one of which I didn't even know existed and is so close to me! Tarsha Homestead is a lovely small shop and the owner is just about the sweetest person you might meet on the hop! Maybe it's just that I fell in love with her "yard". It's full of chickens running around everywhere. She said she may have about 45-50! Here are some of her chickens

Strutting her stuff!

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

I had to call my brother, who also has chickens, to tell him about the beautiful chickens. My SIL sent me a picture of theirs -- including a rooster too!

In between all this fun, I've been trying to get some of the gardens under control. This was this morning's project. Check out the mess in the wheelbarrow!

My current book is Nightshade by Michael Connelly. How can you go wrong with that author, right? I'm in about 75 pages and all I want to do is keep reading! I think it's his latest book and it may have been recommended by my blog buddy Little Penguin Quilts!

Read about it HERE

I guess I forgot to let you know I finished Quilt City Murders by Bruce Leonard. It was pretty good and I like his style. It was fun to read also because I've been to the AQS quilt show in Paducah many times so the town's descriptions were mostly familiar to me. I'd definitely recommend it if you like a murder mystery and quilting! It's the first in a series of his books. I just noticed too that Nightshade is also the first in a series. Guess I know what I'll be reading in my future! Lol!

I think I'll wrap this up now. I don't think there's much more for me to share this week. Let's hear it for another week in the books. We'd love to say that things are cooling off here in the Midwest but not just yet. Summer is still alive and HOT!

Make it a good week!

Linking up at SoScrappy.

I Like Thursday #172

Welcome to my I Like Thursday post. This is where a group of us share things that have recently made us happy, gave us a smile, and/or just puts a positive spin on day-to-day life. After reading my I Like blog, please visit the others over HERE where LeeAnna rounds us up. OK? Got it? Let's go!

Last Thursday was the first Thursday of the month and that meant the three of us were headed over to the Senior Center for our monthly luncheon. March once again brought us the Irish dancers. Between performances, we were also entertained with Irish ballads.

Corned beef, cabbage, mashed potatoes, roll, and a fruit cup
Fancy cupcakes for dessert!

My west-facing dining room window is loaded with beauty. Three of the amaryllis plants are blooming!

Two of the blooming plants

See the other buds coming?

This starry-faced beauty is called Minerva

Hadeco was the first to start blooming
It's an orangy red

Meet Bolero who started blooming this week
She's a pinky-red

There is one other amaryllis in "the collection" that has a bud shooting up. I lost the tag so I have no idea what the name of it is but I'll bet it's pretty!

And speaking of flowers, Spring has started springing up in the yard!

Blooming purple & white crocuses

Twinkly purple crocus

The promise of my biggest show of hyacinths to come!

Flowers were not the only things making appearances in and out of the house. Look who stopped by for a visit!

I finished "The Quality of Silence". It really stretched out too long. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 stars so don't drop everything to read this one. I picked up my next book which was a recommendation from my daughter. Her book club read it. I'm about 70 pages in and it's interesting so far. This is a true story. Read about it HERE.

"Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy"
by Ben Mcintyre

In the kitchen this week, I made a strawberry pie for Fred. He loves pies! I followed this recipe since I've made it every Spring for years and it's a winner. Sorry no picture.

With St. Patrick's Day coming up soon, I'll be making Ina Garten's Irish Soda Bread. It is also a winner and I've made it in the past. Mom loves this one with a subtle taste of orange in the background. I don't use the called-for currants and instead substitute raisins. Scrumptious!

I hope you're still with me because I saved the best for last. Our family is growing! My niece announced that she and her husband are expecting a baby later this year!!!

We are all so happy and can't wait for the baby's arrival. Our family feels so blessed!

I hope you all have a blessed week and are able to keep a positive attitude. There are plenty of things around to appreciate ... sometimes you just have to look!

Thank you, LeeAnna, for continuing to host this weekly post where we can remind ourselves and others that sometimes you sometimes have to actually look around to find appreciable things.

I Like Thursday #153

Late again to the I Like Thursday party. Oh well, I do have a few things to share. Hopefully you had a great week and have already checked out the "Like" posts on the Not Afraid of Color blog.

Remember my neighbor's sunflowers? She was waiting for them to bloom. Now they have exploded! This picture was taken a couple of days ago. I'm sure there are more sunflowers in her garden by now. I also love the colorful zinnias standing tall in the front row.

My little tiered garden planter is coming along. By the way, many of you commented on it. It was an Aldi Find several years ago so I don't know where you can find another except maybe Amazon? Anyway, I've got marigolds, allysum,  and zinnias blooming happily. On the bottom row you will also see a "volunteer" moss rose from last year. It's happy too!

View From the Top

Desert Rose Hanging from Bottom Left

While driving to one of my quilt clubs, I spied this painting on the building. It's new and looks wonderful. We are getting our kicks on Route 66!

Taken Out My Window While Waiting on Red Light

Speaking of Route 66, I finished this 1000-piece puzzle.

LeeAnna's prompt this week was favorite meal/mealtime. I guess I'm more of a lunch person but only because I get up so early, breakfast is almost always a bowl of cereal. Currently I'm enjoying Honey Grahams! Lol! Dinner is so late in the day and, since I made it while tired from the day's activities, I'm not overly enthusiastic about dinner. But lunch is right up my alley. The other day I pulled out the fresh hatch chili Mom & I had picked up at the grocery store. We didn't know quite what to do with it, just knew they were supposed to be delicious. They were marked "Mild" so we figured jalapeno-mild since that's what I'd read online. So I treated it like a jalapeno-poblano.

First I blistered it on the stove and peeled off the outer layer. Then I stuffed each half with cream cheese, sprinkled chipotle chile powder on top, topped that with cojack cheese, and popped them in the toaster oven for about 15 minutes. Then I switched on the broiler and browned them up. Here's a picture of mine! So tasty! Only thing missing was a margarita -- too early. No margarita for lunch! Haha!

I did finish "The Dutch House" and really enjoyed that book. It was a fun and interesting read, not too deep, and had a good (but strange) cast of characters. Now I'm reading a book that my daughter recommended. It's "Endurance: Shackleford's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing. It's about Shackleford and 27 others trying to make the first way across Antarctica to the South Pole back in the 1910s. The hardships they'e endured and the uneasiness of not being in control of their situation as the ice has got them stuck and frozen still. No way the boats can sail through as everthing is frozen rock-solid. The 24-hour darkness followed by the 24-hour daylight periods has not helped their situation. I'm about halfway through and I'll finish. It IS interesting but it's not a book that I would say I'm "enjoying". There are some very rough spots that they've endured but the passages from the explorers' diaries are very interesting and give you a sense of what they're going through.

GoodReads Synopsis Found HERE

We've had a taste of Fall here lately with highs only in the mid-70s and lows down into the low- to mid-50s. Summer will be returning before the weekend is over with 90s for the highs again. It was good while it lasted, right? In the meantime I started feeling like making soup (obviously due to the weather) and made this Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup. Whole Lotta Yum gives you three ways to make it -- Crock Pot, Instant Pot, or Stovetop. Isn't that great??? I went Instant Pot and subbed out the kale for spinach, used whold milk instead of heavy cream, and only used 4 cups of chicken broth. We loved it!

I hope you have a great weekend and can find enjoyable things to appreciate near you.

I Like Thursday #152

It's time for another round of "likes" for the week. We like to share that HERE on LeeAnna's blog. There's always interesting stuff there to learn/share/see.

Let's start in the garden, mine and others. My neighbor's coreopsis is blooming nicely around her mailbox.

On my back deck, the multi-tiered planter is finally blooming. We were gone this past Spring for a NC Bridal Shower so my seeds didn't get planted  until mid-June. That explains the tardiness.

Top: Marigolds
Middle: Zinniuas
Bottom: Allyssum

Ameren is our gas provider. I didn't realize they sweep through the neighborhoods checking for gas leaks. They found a small one in our yard. Here they are digging up the pipe. They were so kind as to be as careful as possible of my garden and then placed the bricks back in order and seeded the grass.

He actually dug a hole up to his waist!

My quilt guild had an amazing program this past Tuesday evening. Our presenter was Candyce Grisham and she showed us many wonderful ways to make Dresden blocks. You can visit her website HERE.

Amazon Link

She shared so many beautiful quilts. I wish I'd taken more pictures but I didn't remember until towards the end. Doh!

Geesh! I just realized I never posted this. Here you go -- I'm having a great Thursday!