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!

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!!