Over the Blues and On to the Dark Greens PLUS a Finish and a Start!

Angela at Super Scrappy has picked DARK GREEN as the color for May. The Rainbow Scrap Challenge provides so much inspiration to dig into that stash and see what you can come up with. I'm sure I have plenty of dark greens to keep me busy this month!

As for last month's blocks, I finished Heartfire blocks in light, bright blues. Here are the last two. I didn't get a picture of all seven but they are done.

If you recall from last post, I had an Awesome Land block under my needle. Finished it and now have another under the needle.

I still have two more "kits" cut out and they with the one on the sewing machine will make seven of the nine blocks for this month. This picture includes the parts available of the block in progress plus the two kits ready to go.

I may just call it quits on the light, bright blues and move on to the dark greens this month. Whichever way I decide to go, I'll be using the scrappy Awesome Land blocks as leaders & enders for my next project which I'm very excited about ...

The other day my sister told me that Gudrun Erla from GEDesigns was having a 2nd Quarantine Quilt-a-Long. The pattern we will be using is called Hope and will be held as an all-day sew-day on May 3rd. Linda wanted to know if I'd be interested and she, who lives in Texas, and I, who live in Illinois, would sew-a-long with Gudrun, who lives in Minnesota. Of course I said YES!!!

There are so many fun things about this sew-a-long, besides sewing with my sister obviously.

• Gudrun will have a Hope Playlist ready to go at 9am CDT, available on Spotify.
• Gudrun will give tips for quilt construction every two hours live on Facebook & YouTube. They will be at 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, and finally 5pm -- the Ta!Da! moment!
• Gudrun will be having four guests also sewing the Hope pattern and sharing their thoughts and upcoming ideas and whatever. The guest list includes Pat Sloan, Nancy Jewell, Doug Leko, AND LISSA ALEXANDER!! Lissa is the author of the book "Oh Scrap" that I got the Awesome Land blocks from!!!! Super exciting for me!!!

The pattern is available for a small donation of $2, $5, or $10. All proceeds are being divided among three of Gudrun's local charities. She's about to hit $30,000 raised! She truly is a superstar!!!

If you'd like to join in, just go HERE to download the pattern. Hope only requires 10" squares and 2-1/2" strips. If you have a layer cake just laying around, that would be a fabulous start. You can use yardage too, of course. Dig into that scrap bin and join us on Sunday, May 3rd!

In other news, I have a finish to share. It has been added to my PHD spreadsheet and it also satisfied the April UFO Challenge project at my Local Quilt Shop. We will be working on #3 for the next couple of months. That's to finish up Kyoto .... finally! The LQS did our show 'n' share on Zoom this past week. I must say I almost failed because, in my haste and misunderstanding as an old lady, I turned off the video because I thought it meant Zoom would video the session and I told Zoom to "not ask me again". Well, turns out you have to have the video turned on to be seen! Who knew??!!?? So I missed about the first 20 minutes of the meeting trying to figure out how to actually turn that video back on. On my! What a dope!

Anyway, this is called Hospital Sketches and Barbara Brackman offered it last year on her blog called Civil War Quilts and you can still find the block patterns there.

If you went to the block posts, you will see that this is my own rendition. I knew I could not keep up with the very intricate larger blocks but, since I'd already completed the first one, I wasn't going to toss it out! I moved on from there and made the smaller versions that she called Sprouts. The border was inspired by Irene Blanck. She frequently uses an entwining design which I love.

We've had a lot of rain this past week. Overnight we got 1-1/2" as seen on my awesome rain gauge. This was a Christmas present from my awesome daughter!

 A cold and rainy day inspired me to turn some leftover chicken & gravy into a home-made pot pie. I used puff pastry and it was delicious! DH loved it and ate a very good portion.

April showers brought May flowers! This clematis is a very early-bloomer and I just LOVE the color!

For those of you wondering about my hubby's health, he still has all three tubes in place. We empty the two drain bags 3-4 times a day, measure the output, and he records the numbers for the doctor. I flush his kidney drain twice daily. It's quite the process and we've got it down pretty good. We've only had a couple of mishaps and but there was obviously a learning curve. I'm fixing him three meals a day which he eats pretty good. Slowly he's gaining some strength back but it is definitely still a work in progress. Maybe I should add him to my UFO list! Ha! Thank you from both of us for all your thoughts & prayers!!!

Have a great weekend! Now go wash your hands!

FNwF and RSC Light & Bright Blue #1

I must say I had a very nice evening last night stitching with my virtual friends. There were 17 (!) of us at Friday Night with Friends! You should visit and see the really cool stuff going on with us thanks to Cheryll getting us all together. So  now you're probably wondering what I did. I worked on Afternoon Delight applique blocks.

Finished Block 11

Started Block 12. Bottom set of stems/leaves finished
and top stems/leaves and all flowers are ready for stitching

Not a lot of progress made on RSC. On Wednesday Angela selected light & bright blue for April's color. Thursday evening found me digging through my Blue Bin and cutting fabric to get ready.

Nice selection of bright & light blue strips
cut 1-1/4" wide for Heartfire blocks

Blue squares and rectangles cut for Awesome Land blocks.
Black & white squares ready for 16-at-a-time HSTs!

So no sewing for RSC yet but I'm armed & dangerous! Lol! I'm willing to bet that there were others busy with their light blue scraps. Linking up shortly with Angela at So Scrappy to see how productive the others were.

OK, what else has kept my attention? Hospital Sketches is under the needle for quilting!!!

Until next time, have a great & safe weekend. Now go wash your hands and face!

End of Month PHD Report

Here we are at the end of March, beginning of April. It is time to see how I'm doing with my PHD (Projects Half Done). Here's what I had planned to get done and actually DID get done:

What do I hope to accomplish by the end of the month?

• 6 more Heartfire blocks - Managed to get all the Teal blocks done for March and made a stab at getting some orange ones done for January
  
  
  
  
• Complete three Afternoon Delight applique blocks - One done, one half done. This means I only got 2.5 blocks done of the 4 for this month. I also managed to piece a bunch of patches in order to get ready for a few Modified Shoo-fly blocks.
  
  
• Piece five more  Awesome Land blocks - Got 4 more done for a total of 8, but ran out of teal fabric for the final 9th block.
  
• Get at least two, hopefully four, applique borders for Hospital Sketches - Not only did I get all four sides of the applique borders finished, but I've also got the backing fabric picked out and ready to iron!
  
  
  
  

Overall not too bad. I'm thrilled with the progress on Hospital Sketches and Heartfire but I'll need to be playing catch-up with the others. Let's not forgot that I did have a finish this month too. This cute little Easter Wall Hanging.

What will I focus on in April? Surely I'll make a dent in this list!

• 9 Awesome Land blocks in the RSC April color.
• Baste, quilt, bind, and label Hospital Sketches. In other words, get it to the finish line!
• 7 Heartfire blocks in the RSC April color.
• Finish the 2 applique Afternoon Delight blocks and maybe start the next 4.
• Piece 4 Modified Shoo-Fly blocks for Afternoon Delight

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On a bit of a somber note, my son & DIL had to say good-bye to their trusty bull terrier Rocky. He was suffering more & more each week from an auto-immune disease and they couldn't bear to see him ail any longer. Here's the most recent picture we have of beloved Rocky with my mother from our last trip to Maryland in October. R.I.P. dear Rocky.

Let's cheer things up, OK? How about a sweet picture of our Brody-Boy! Look how much fun he's having driving his car! Lol!

He's such a big boy and we can't wait to see him. Just as soon as the COVID-19 quarantine lifts and Grandpa Fred is right again. This kidney cancer surgery has really knocked him for a loop!

See you mid-April for the next PHD report. I'm linking up with Quilting Gail to share my accomplishments and see what the others have been up to this late March!

FNSI and RSC Report & Hubby's Surgery

RSC is going rather well. I'd say teal seems to agree with me!

This Awesome Land block came out from under the needle last week and I particularly like the way the b&w packground plays with everything in this block. Another block was also completed as a leader & ender but I failed to get a picture.

I also finished another three teal Heartfire blocks but apparently didn't get around to snapping a picture of them either. That brings my total teal Heartfire blocks to six. Only three more to go for my 9-block-goal! I promise more pictures for next week's So Scrappy link. In the meantime, visit Angela and see some really amazing teal/turquoise creations here!

I'm trying very hard to concentrate on Hospital Sketches. I really want this one finished before April 28th which is the next meeting for UFO Club at my LQS. Of course, we may have to meet virtually if COVID is still lurking. Anyway I got the bias made and glued down the entwining vines.

I made a start on the applique of the vines at home Thursday but I really got a lot done yesterday at the hospital while waiting on hubby's surgery. I'm linking up with Wendy at Sugatlane Designs for Friday Night Sew-In yesterday! A lot of these girls are from Australia so, even though I was sewing all day yesterDAY, I was actually sewing with them Friday NIGHT down under! Be sure to stop by and see their amazing creations ... usually lots of handwork ad tons of inspiration!

As far as Hospital Sketches goes, I'm thinking some appliqued motifs in the corners and I'm not too sure about the three links per side ... maybe leave as is and quilt a motif in them? Maybe an applique dot? Heart? Suggestions welcomed. Wish I'd taken a better picture ...

My husband had surgery yesterday to remove a mass from his right kidney. It went the full (and perhaps a tad longer) than the estimated 3-5 hours. There were a couple hurdles for the doctors to overcome but when I left late last night, DH was in his room waiting for Xray results and waiting for more pain medicine. While the surgery was performed with robotics, apparently this isn't an easy surgery. I hope he was able to get some rest last night. He's going to need it because the plan when I left last night was to have him up & walking this morning. Oh boy!

Scrappy Teal!

I must confess I didn't do a whole lot with teal/turquoise this week because I had another project to work on. However, I used my Awesome Land blocks as leaders & enders and managed to squeak out these lovelies! I'll be sharing them with Angela at So Scrappy where all us RSC-ers will be meeting and sharing our teal blocks.

I have a few more blocks cut and ready to go under the needle for later too! See them?

What was I working on? My LQS (O'Sewpersonal) picked #5 for the UFO to work on over the next 2 months. My #5 is Hospital Sketches. This week I trimmed the prepared blocks to size and laid them out. I did this so I had a reference to sew them together without getting them mixed up.

Next I cut the sashing strips and sewed this top together. This is when I sewed the two Awesome Blocks, using them as leaders & enders.

I need to sew the final borders on and finish the applique that I have in mind. There will be vines and I've got bias strips ready to sew together! See that pile??!! Vines in the making!

Have a great weekend!

Getting My PHD in 2020

Yes, that's right! I hope to be earning my PHD this year. Not a scholarly type but cleaning out my Projects Half Done! Gail over at QuiltingGail will be organizing it and I look forward to finishing up a few (that's a laugh -- lots of!!!) projects started. You can also do this by linking up here.

Starting with #1: My Snowman Quilt, a lap-sized kit I bought from Hickory Stick, Hannibal MO, on a Kinderhook retreat. I finished piecing this at a Todd Hall retreat years ago. It needs to be backed, quilted, and finished off.

#2: Scrap Dance 2-Step. This was a fun mystery quilt-a-long with My Carolina Home a few years ago (2017). I wanted to make it a bit bigger and had a GRAND idea to piece a migrating geese border. Got it organized then proceeded to chicken out. I truly want to work this border, then get it backed quilted, and finished off.

#3: Star In a Star. This was the Twisted Sisters Quilt from     . This is so close to finished, it really isn't funny. Sew the ginormous blocks together and sew up the four cornerstones. Final assembly, back it, quilt it, and bind it. Do it!

#4: Sew Spooky BOM. I started this project with my BFF Vickie. I had been visiting her and we went to a quilt shop - surprise! surprise! We both fell in love with an amazing Halloween BOM, signed up, and kept up mostly. We did a lot of motivating on each other's parts too. I kind of forget how she was doing her blocks, but I chose to put in some wool applique. I love the blocks I completed so it is now time to git 'er done!

#5: Blowin' in the Wind. How many times has this been on my UFO list? OMG! Way too many times and it still sits. It started as a mystery quilt-a-long with my local quilt shop, Rosemary's Fabrics. I love this top but I really need to finish this one up! After all, I made it for my own bed!!!

#6: Hugs & Kisses, aka Riptide. This quilt has been on my UFO list in the past and never got to the finish line. This year!!!!

#7: A Very Merry Christmas to You. Started this QAL with Suzn Quilts. Got caught up with the holidays, followed by my guild's quilt show, blah, blah, blah. Would love to finish this one up.

#8: Easter Wall Hanging. This one is so "done" that it is already pin-basted and ready to be quilted & bound. This ought to be an easy finish .... as soon as I find it again! UGH!

#9: Eva Grace. I really need to get going on this one. It was designed by Irene Blanck from Australia and I started it in October 2018 when Irene visited my TAS group. It is applique so it'll be a longer work-in-progress.

#10: Kyoto. This was a yet another mystery quilt-a-long. This time with Jinny Beyer's blog and it is hand-pieced. I worked REALLY HARD to get this one done for the 2019 UFO Challenge at another local quilt shop, OSew Personal. Got to the borders so I really should be able to finish this one off this year.

#11: Shark Bite. This one started off as a Leader & Ender project with Bonnie Hunter that ended up morphing with a quilt I saw on the cover of a magazine. Fred named it one day when I was laying it out to see what it was shaping up to look like.

#12: Tiny Tuesday. This was Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2019. So fun to put together. I've got ideas for finishing this one up. Let's move it!

#13: Hospital Sketches. Another quilt-a-long, only this time with Barbara Brackman's Civil War blog. Need to sew the blocks together, back it, quilt it, and finish it up.

There are several more that I'd like to add but I think a lucky 13 number of projects will be enough to set for my 2020 goals. Maybe I'll have these finished early and can add a few more finishes. Right, Sue, dream on!

In the meantime, I'll be thinking long & hard about what projects I'd like to do for Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2020! I also need to update my blog page. Happy New Year!!

Movin' It Forward Monday!

Movin' It Forward Monday always presents the opportunity to see how much progress we've made since the last time we've posted. I think it also keeps us focused on our projects so we have something to post! Haha! So, with that in mind, here's my last block to Hospital Sketches, the BOM from Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilts blog.

 I'll need to put it all together and make a final decision on the borders.

Miss Polly didn't really like me invading her space. She wants ALL the sunshine to herself!

This weekend I also started thinking a little more about Halloween. After all, October 1 is not far away ... like tomorrow! When Hubby & I went to Colorado to visit his sister, we stopped at Quilters Station in Kansas City. What a fabulous store!!! If you're ever in KC, this is a must. Truly! You must trust me on this! Anyway, I picked up this pattern for little wool pillows.

Saturday I pulled some gorgeous hand-dyed orange wool from Primitive Gatherings (another MUST SEE store!) and grabbed some black and got myself set up. By Saturday evening I had this whipped up. It actually took longer than I thought it would because it's a bit fiddly.

Then on Sunday I put this together. All those little, tiny curves were definitely fiddly!

Unfortunately, I overestimated how much black wool I had at home so these will be the only two until I order up more black. That's OK, I've got other things planned ahead.

Yesterday I also decided to make some Peanut Blossoms. They're always a big hit around here.

We're finally expecting some Fall weather by the end of the week. Will probably have to whip up something pumpkin! Until then, have a great week!

Linking up with Em's Scrapbag for Movin' It Forward Monday!