Getting Into Pink?

During the first full week of Rainbow Scrap Challenge Pink, I thought I'd dig into my pineapple blocks and get that taken care of right away. I needed two more of these blocks and figured I make them pink since that was the color Angela called for. Ta! Da!

And while I was at it, I finished sewing up the third dark purple pineapple too!

Next, I grabbed my bin full of pink scraps and quickly set to cut the first couple of blocks for the GemTones SAL with American Patchwork & Quilting. I decided this would be a great time to break in my AccuQuilt cutter. If I never use it, I'll never learn it. I converted the pieces into die numbers, grabbed my cutter & dies, nabbed the pink scraps and a background, and set about to the task. In really not that long, I had a bag of cut pieces for two 16" blocks!

I guess I'll find out later this week if I cut
the first set of blocks correctly when I start sewing!

 
I did go downstairs with the intention of sewing the pieces together and seeing if I was going to be happy or disappointed with my pieces, but then I spied a very pink project that just needed three borders and then quilting. After two separate days of sewing, I got the first two borders on! Look at all that pink!

A Portion of Grandma's Stars

This is the project I started a couple of years ago at a Kinderhook Retreat. I'd cut out all my 12" blocks and also that of Vickie's with my AccuQuilt cutter. The fabric was bought while we were at our husband' military reunion a couple of years ago in Florida. Of course, I'm lagging because Vickie's quilt was completed a  long time ago. Lol!

On Monday, we got quite a bit of snow -- 8 or 9 inches. We were recovering from that when yesterday, Friday, we got a couple more inches of snow. Goodness! Enough is enough until we catch up a bit, please! Here are a couple of pictures taken Friday morning before our walk.

Cleared Space on the Pond Dueto the Fountain

Ready, Set, Go!

I hope you've all stayed warm if you happened to have been in the snow belt this past week. I wish a speedy recovery to the people of California. Those fires have been too much to fully comprehend.

If you'd like to see more pink, visit Angela's blog SoScrappy! Have a good week!

Pineapples!

Finally I can share with you two dark purple pineapple blocks! I even have another in the works. I'll need to do a recount but I believe I'm only two short now. Progress -- I really like that!

Wow! That top green is really bright!

Another thing I liked this week was news that I received from my niece & goddaughter. She's engaged!

Beautiful Rock(s)!

Here are a couple of extra pictures from last weekend. Kelli works for Wilson Sporting Goods and had an event in the metro-St. Louis area so she was in the area. Jack decided to join her. We caught up with the two of them at Kelli's other grandparents' house for lasagna dinner. I brought Turtle Brownies for dessert and for her birthday which was the previous Thursday.

Turtle Brownie Recipe

Headed Home with Layover in Philadelphia
Philly Cheesesteaks for Breadfast! Hahaha!

We enjoyed the December Senior Luncheon. As promoted, we had fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, salad, roll, and a special cupcake for dessert.

Santa Passed Out Candy Canes Too!

Holiday Cupcakes -- Yum!

We were entertained again with a Christmas song-a-long. Mom really loves that!

Afterwards we had a "snowball fight" and it was so much fun. Where they got those ginormous cotton balls I don't know but everyone got into the spirit for sure!

It seems like I can't do a post without sharing something from a morning walk. The other day I heard this rustling in the bamboo that grows along some of the trail. Look what I spied (wish I'd gotten a better picture)!

After looking through my Illinois Bird Book, I discovered it was a bobwhite! One time, and only once, I watched a trail of baby bobwhites following their parent across the bike trail. Wonder if this one is related??!!

Chuckle for the day: I saw this on Facebook and it pretty much sums up the pre-holiday preparations:

I hope you are having a great week and are looking forward to fun times this weekend. I'll be sharing this post with LeeAnna's group at Not Afraid of Color and also with Angela at SoScrappy.

Later!

A Few More Pineapples

 A few more pineapples were added to the mix this week. I call these caramel brown pineapples,

I have two deep purple pineapples cut out. They'll get sewn up this week. I only need four more pineapples and then I'll have my 60 ready to lay out and sash. I'm thinking maybe a dark brown -- as in chocolate colored? Maybe I'll have this one put together soon (?)! Lol!

Here they are individually in case you wanted a closer look.

Today is day 2 of retreat. I forgot my phone yesterday so I can't show you what I worked on yesterday. I'll be sure to get pictures today. It's a Judy Niemeyer table runner that was started at a guild class so very long ago. I'm anxious to finish it -- I think it's beautiful!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Don't let the spooky Spidermans, princesses, or goblins play tricks on you Thursday. Go ahead and pass out those treats! Hahaha!

I'll leave you with a sweet picture of Brody. He went to the pumpkin farm on his kindergarten field trip this week.

Sharing with the other Rainbow Scrap quilters at SoScrappy.

RSC Deep Purple & Caramels

This week I counted up my pineapple blocks and, yes, I'm a little short of the 60 that I need. Of course, right now I can't remember how many short but last night I went ahead and started cutting fabrics for more. I made up the start of 5 more blocks. There will be two deep purple (almost brown) ones and three caramel-colored ones. (Yum! Caramels!)

Here's the work in progress. I'll get out my Sew Wonderful Curve ruler and start cutting this weekend and hopefully get a few more pineapples under my belt.

Have a great weekend, everybody! I'll be looking in on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge friends to see how they're coming along with finishing up 2024 projects. You can take a peek HERE also!

July RSC Pineapples are Done!

Here it is the last day of August and I finally got the July RSC pineapples completed. Ta! Da!

Sorry about the crappy photo

I also got the last (I think) Red Threads embroidery block done. It's definitely a weird one!

Not Sure What This One is All About

Yesterday I spent and today I will be spending time with friends at the monthly sleep-in-your-own-bed retreat. Yesterday I almost finished six of the paper-pieced sashing strips. They look like this when completed.

Scrappy Kansas Troubles (mostly)

These will make 22 strips completed with only 50 to go! OMG! What was I thinking!!??!! Lol!

I do have the orange fabrics with me at retreat and the necessary tools, I hope. After completing the started strips, I will take a break from those and make the orange pineapples. Then on to the next set of six sashing strips.

I hope you are having a fun weekend too and getting ready to start the next RSC color which I believe is going to be purple. Check out these posts at SoScrappy to see what progress others made with the last of their orange RSC scraps.

Trying to Catch Up

Terribly behind but hope to be caught up with my Pineapple blocks soon. Made a little progress last night. Here are the bottoms of my teal/turquoise pineapples.

I have the tops cut and ready to go so let's see what I can get done.

Wishing you a great weekend!

So Ends RSC Blue for June -- AND A FINISH!!

As the end of June is almost here, it's time for a bit of a wrap-up for the month of June. Angela chose BLUES for our Rainbow Scrap Color for the month and that meant time to pull out Rainbow Pineapple blocks, a quilt I started in 2023. Here are the three pineapple blocks I managed this month.

Three Blue Pineapple Blocks for June 2024

Close-Up Picture

I thought it might be fun to see what all of my 2024 blocks look like together.

A Field of Happy, Scrappy Pineapples!

Red Threads SAL has been progressing. Here are the embroidery blocks I completed this week.

Sweet Wren

More Wheat! Ack!

You may recall I won a Go! Baby AccuQuilt Cutter in 2022. I then decided to join the AccuQuilt Club at my LQS to learn about my "new toy". This past month, for Summer and all the Patriotic Holidays during Summer, it was suggested we make the Tumbler Flag using whatever size tumbler we have. Well, a 4-1/2" tumbler was included with the Go! Baby so that's what I used. Of course, I went scrappy. It turned out a bit larger than I anticipated. The pattern says it finishes at 28" x 48".

Scrappy Patriotic Tumbler Flag - 28x48

Some of the Free-Motion Quilting Done
on My Domestic Machine

Some of the Scrappy Reds & Whites

Had Some Stars Fabric in My Stash
Extra Tumblers were Made From a
Denim-Colored FQ Won in a Drawing

Leftover Gray Backing Fabric Worked Great
with Some Stars Printed in the Background

So see!!?? I got a finish! I got a finish! Yay me!!!! This sweet quilt will hang in the hallway until after Labor Day. (The blue field of stars keeps with the June RSC theme! *wink*)

Wishing you a terrific final June weekend. We've had a bit of rain here in the St. Louis area and a little cooler temps lately. Hopefully the weather will be cool enough for some greatly missed cook-outs in the near future!

Linking up with all the Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilters on Angela's blog, SoScrappy.

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!

Nearing the End of PINK RSC

It suddenly dawned on me that the end of May is approaching and I never did my pineapple blocks for the month. Timing was perfect as this is the last weekend of the month which means time to sew with my quilty friends Friday & Saturday while going home at night to sleep. Love this retreat and love all the ladies that I sew with during this retreat.

Yesterday I picked out the fabrics I wanted to use and which ones had enough to cut up for the pineapple blocks. First thing, after setting up my sewing station at retreat, I began the blocks. There was a lot to catch up with my friends but, by the end of my day, I had my three blocks sewn.

A close-up picture

This week I finished reading "Something to Hide" by Deborah Mogach. I enjoyed the story and it was interesting to see how the different tangled lives were going to be sorted out at the end. 

Again my timing was perfect. I finished this book the day my hold book, "The Frozen River" by Ariel Lawhon, became available! I'm sure this book was recommended to me by one of my blog friends but I can't remember which one. I'm about 100 pages in and it is very interesting and of course there is a mystery involved. 

You can see what GoodReads
has to say about it HERE

On the recipe front, I made a blueberry muffin loaf. It was suggested by Sherri at A Quilting Life. She has a Saturday Seven post each week and there's always a section on cooking. You can find the recipe by Smitten Kitchen HERE . Mom& I loved it and it stayed fresh in the refrigerator for quite a long time. You can find Sherri's Saturday Seven blog post HERE for May 25.

I also made an oldie but goodie to share at retreat this weekend. It's Kardea Brown's recipe for Lemon Pudding Pound Cake. So moist and delicious, not to mention easy! Find the recipe HERE.

Apparently misery really does love company. After finishing the puzzle I worked on with my sister, I recently started another one. This is another 1500 piece that I found in Mom's basement. It took me two days to turn all the pieces over!!!

Last Sunday hubby, Mom, & I joined the Senior Center for a daytime bus trip.

We enjoyed a family-style lunch at Castelli's up in Alton. They are known for their fried chicken and we enjoyed it so much since I don't cook that kind of food. Along with the chicken we ate salad, scrumptious bread (which we also don't usually have), mostaccioli, baked potato, green beans with bacon, and orange sherbet for dessert. We ate like hogs!

Next stop was the Alton Little Theater to see a community-theater performance of Singin' in the Rain. Wow! Was it spectacular! The theater was a wonderful venue and the play was well performed. We all agreed that it was a great time for a special occasion. We were celebrating Mother's Day with a nod also to Mom's upcoming 91st birthday in June.

I enjoyed the season finale of Survivor this week. I approved of the one chosen to win the million dollars. Sorry to see the season end for Blue Bloods, Elsbeth, and Tracker. Something to look forward to next season, right?

I'm linking up with Angela and friends at SoScrappy. Check out all the pink progress HERE.

Have a wonderful weekend and, if you're a tennis fan, the French Open starts on Sunday! Yay!