I Like Thursday #151

What a crazy month so far around here. We went to near 99 degrees yesterday and today felt almost chilly with a high in the mid-70s. The All Illinois Shop Hop began this month and my friend & I hit the road yesterday morning at 8am. The weather was perfect without any rain or heat. We stopped at six new-to-me shops and I was dropped off home at 5:30pm. I have to admit that by the 6th store I was having trouble digesting all I was seeing and didn't even buy a thing. I was so looking forward to my bed! Since this is my I Like Thursday post, I can honestly say that I like my friend, I like to shop hop, and I like to get out and see new places. Triple LIKE!

I am very nearly finished with "The Dutch House". I can't imagine how it will end but I am enjoying this book very much.

GoodReads Synopsis HERE

This past week I made Cabbage and Sausage Foil Packets. I nabbed the recipe from Spend with Pennies. Fred doesn't like cooked cabbage so I substituted carrot chunks in his. Since Mom & I like cabbage and carrots, we ended up getting both in our packets. It was an easy recipe and it turned out SO GOOD. Fred liked the easy kitchen clean-up! Here's a picture of his packet.

Recipe HERE

I've been watching one of my neighbor's sunflowers grow and grow and grow. Each day I check for a bloom. This week I was rewarded. Look how tall!!!

The other day I did a happy dance when I put the final piece of the puzzle in place. This 1500-piece puzzle was a good one.

Earlier when all that was left was 123 solid blue pieces left

Ta da!

I'll leave you with a photo of a silly little yellow finch. Do you see him? Sitting on top of the car? I think he found something to eat or was drinking some of the raindrops/dew.

I hope you have a wonderful Thursday. Don't forget to stop & smell the flowers. Just not that sunflower -- unless you're 12 feet high! Haha

Linking with LeeAnna and friends at Not Afraid of Color.

Friday Night with Friends

I can't believe how far behind I've gotten myself. Yes, I know, there's no pressure but I like to give myself deadlines. Turquoise/teal July has finished and all I've got is fabrics selected for the pineapples and now I need to browse my purple orange stash for August's pineapples.

On the other hand, I've kept my hands busy with embroidery work on the Red Threads blocks. Here are the ones I completed last month. I can't remember if I've shared any of these already or not.

What did I work on last night? Last week's Red Threads block. I also downloaded this week's and it's the one I've been waiting for -- an elk! But anyway, here's the one I finished last night.

The only machine sewing I've been working on is the paper-pieced sashing strips. Lots to make, for sure. The horizontal sashing strips are in 2 pieces which I have yet to sew together. I am using scrappy predominantly Kansas Troubles fabrics with a few Kim Diehl thrown in.

I've got a few more to do before these are finished. The vertical strips are one long, long string of flying geese. The paper pieces are in sets of 8. I've got a bunch of the papers prepped and ready to sew!

Let's get this weekend started! Hope yours is a good one too!

Linking up with Angela @ SoScrappy and also with Cheryll @ GoneStitchin'. Go ahead and check out what my friends are doing too.

I Like Thurs #150 AND a Finish!

I haven't been posting lately because things had gotten hectic around here between appointments, my daughter's visit, and just taking care of the necessary things around the house. However, right before Sarah's arrival, I finished quilting and binding a top! Yay!

This is what it looked like a couple of years ago. I was on retreat with friends at Kinderhook Lodge. Earlier I had gifted my BFF a kit and also one for myself. We made our tops together at retreat.

Kinderhook Retreat -- October 2022

Of course, Vickie quilted hers up right away while mine lingered and waited to be quilted. I felt like I was on a patriotic roll recently since I'd finished my AccuQuilt Flag (see header) and decided that this was the year to quilt this one. As a matter of fact, since I was making red, white, & blue striped binding for the AQ Flag, I went ahead and made the binding for this one. I've never made my binding before quilting it but I'd seen others do that. Wow! What great motivation to get 'er done!

So, may I present a finished Charmingly Patriotic!

This is a Lisa Bonjean (Primitive Gatherings) pattern actually called Charming American. The top is made with 5 charm packs. All you need is binding & backing from there. The top finished at 50"x60" but was actually 47.5"x57.5" after quilting & laundering.

Although it's not a huge quilt, I decided to quilt it using my Barb's Baptist Fan Stencil (find it HERE on Etsy). I had such success using it on the Mystery Quilt in April and went with it again.

A Close-Up of Primitive Gatherings's
American Gatherings Fabrics

Pieced Backing

Close-Up of the Large
Baptist Fan Quilting

This one definitely qualifies for a major LIKE! Woo! Hoo!

I also like how Polly keeps an eye on my quilting. Thankfully she approves. Lol!

Last I checked in, I was reading "The Women" by Kristin Hannah. I finished it and absolutely loved this book. I must say I was a little skeptical since it isn't my usual kind of book. It's the story of three nurses that do their patriotic part in Vietnam. During the course of their tours, they become close friends even after the war ends. I truly recommend this one though.

Currently I'm reading "The Dutch House" by Ann Patchett. I'm already over halfway through it and am surprised by how much I'm enjoying this book too!

GoodReads synopsis HERE

Again, not a usual book that I might read but I'll bet one of my fellow bloggers recommended it. I will do the same, I'm sure, when I finish. Until then, I'll keep on reading. Next on my reading list will probably be a book recommended by Sarah. I see that I'm still at least a month out for a book on hold at my library. So happy to have books in line to read!

I'll finish this post up quickly with just a couple more LIKES around my neighborhood. Here are a couple of pictures from around my neighborhood.

I thought I heard some clucking from this backyard!

Two Chickens -- Golden and Black Hens!!

Mr. & Mrs. Mallard Taking the Ducklings Across the Pond

We took Sarah to Grant's Farm, MO. This was a home owned by Ulysses S. Grant and is now owned by the Busch family of Anheuser-Busch. There is a tram ride from the parking lot, through an animal park/reserve, and onto the animals to view.

Mom & Sarah on the Tram

There are goats to feed. Do you remember Delilah, the goat quilt I made for her?

This is why!

Ice Cream Cones Filled with Kibble
for the Adult Goats

Baby Bottles Filled with Milk for the Baby Goats
(I'm Watching & Laughing!)

I thought this was a fun little ditty for the wash-up station by the goats.

Grant's Farm also has stables for some of the Clydesdale Horses. Until you stand beside one, you have no idea of just exactly large they really are.

Have you been able to catch any of the Olympic games? We have been pretty much glued to the tube watching during this first week. Loving the gymnastics (both men's & women's), thoroughly loved the rugby (who knew? Haha), the swimming, and the beach volleyball. How about you?

If you made it to the end of this post, you will probably need a breather before checking out the other bloggers' posts of things they've liked recently. Whenever you're up to it, check out more HERE.

Have a great week!

I Like Thursday #149

Happy Thursday and let me share with you some things I've "liked" over the week. First of all I'm happy to see the sun shine again. Tuesday we had torrential rain for most of the day. Although my backyard rain gauge measured only 4.25", nearby Scott AFB received 6.1"!!! Roads were flooded everywhere, the base closed down, and a close town's dam broke and flooded houses. So ... I am grateful for sunshine! I also need to add that I love my rain gauges from my daughter and SIL.

I'm still enjoy reading "The Women" but, WARNING: there are some very tough spots to read. I'm under 100 pages to go and will let you know overall how I liked the book next week.

Last Thursday was Sr. Center Luncheon day and we enjoyed our bratwurst and sauerkraut meal. Ice cream sandwiches were passed out afterwards for dessert! Yippee! I love ice cream anything! Our entertainment was Elizabeth Lakamp after lunch and boy is she fun. Energetic, vivacious, and happy! We are even encouraged to sing along with her. Mom really loves it.

On our walk the other day, Gracie spied something ....

Gracie Found a Toad

This past week in the backyard, Gracie found a mole too. Let's just say that with Hubby's help, that will be one less mole digging through our yard. Good dog!

Our prompt this week was have we ever been to a summer outdoor play or concert. Yes to both. Back in my high school days, I went a couple of times to the MRF (Mississippi River Festival) to hear music at the Southern Illinois University campus in Edwardsville. St. Louis also has an outdoor theater with plays performed outdoors. It's all nice but our weather can be brutal in the summer with heat & humidity. It's a weather-timing thing here if you will have a good time vs a GREAT time.

I hope you've had a good week. Later today I'm getting the post put in my mouth for an implant. We'll see how that goes. I already have one but got it quite some time ago so I don't really remember much. I think I might be "uncomfortable" for 12 - 24 hours. Oh well, it'll be better in the long run!

I'm sharing this post with my friends and LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

I Like Thursdays #148

Wow! Did we get a lot of rain from Hurricane Beryl on Tuesday! My rain gauge only goes up to 4" and it overflowed! The best part was it cooled off our weather with barely 70 degrees F on Tuesday and just into the 80s yesterday. Summer is expected to return this weekend and we'll be seeing near 100s again. Ugh! It beats Las Vegas weather though!!!

Before we got drenched, I saw my neighbor's tiger lilies were blooming. Aren't they the sweetest the way they bloom looking downward? And especially pretty with the daisies.

Yesterday's walk caught a couple of glimpses of the effects of rain.

Mushrooms Popped Up Overnight

Check Out the Green Moss on this Big Tree
(So Pretty with the Sunshine)

I'm cooking right along with "The Women" by Kristin Hannah. It's hard to imagine how difficult it was in Vietnam but especially for the women nurses. I find it hard to put this one down.

Cooking this week has been uneventful. I did try to make a strawberry rhubarb pie for Mom. I'm not familiar with rhubarb except it's supposed to be quite sour. Mom wants more rhubarb than strawberry in her pie. The one I cooked turned out quite soupy and the rhubarb cooked down to nothing. Anyone out there have a good recipe for Mom?

Television watching has been a lot of Wimbledon tennis. However a friend recommended a Netflix movie -- "The Queen Bees" with Ellen Burstyn, Jane Curtain, James Caan, and more. We found it quite entertaining. If you have Netflix, check out this light, funny, old-people movie. Ha!

Our prompt today from our hostess is if we have a favorite summertime drink. I, of course, went straight to cocktails. My favorite would be a tall glass of Jalapeno Lemonade spiked with tequila or vodka. Second choice would be a refreshing Moscow Mule. If needy no with time to make a drink, then I'd pop a bottle of Coors Light. If all else failed, I would reach for a big glass of cool water.

I hope you have a great finish to your week. Stay cool! I'll be checking with the others HERE to see what they've found likeable this week.

More FNwF, Less RSC

For those of us participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge,  Angela chose calm, serene aqua for July. I started looking at my bin for bits of aqua but that is as far as I got ... so far. I'm pretty sure my fellow Rainbow Scrappers have already gotten a good start and you can check that out here.

Last night was also Friday Night with Friends. I didn't sleep well Thursday night so, instead of dozing on the couch in front of the TV, I made my way to the sewing room. I'd already gotten a whole mess of foundation paper prepared earlier in the week for stitching and that's what I worked on.

7 More Units Sewn
34 of 112 Completed Once Trimmed

I'm using scrappy Kansas Troubles fabrics with a few Kim Diehl & Pam Buda thrown in for variety. Two units get sewn together to form the horizontal sashing for the Red Threads blocks. I finished this one up Friday morning while Mom was getting her hair done.

The project is being hosted by Sentimental Stitches and we are recreating an antique quilt. We are currently working on the 44th block of 49 so we are nearing the end. I can't wait to start putting this one together and so I'm very focused on getting the sashing strips together.

I'm sharing this post with my FNwF friends HERE and my RSC friends HERE. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

I Like Thursday #147

Happy Thursday, friends. Today is the day that I'll be sharing likeable things I've discovered during the week. I'd like to start with I love my country and am wishing the United States a happy birthday on this Independence Day. Our republic has stood for quite some time and I hope for many more years to come. Politicians and media folks talk really big about being kind, doing the will of the people, and getting along but it's hard to see that with all the blather we hear everywhere. Instead of shooting off our mouths, let's shoot off some fireworks and celebrate just how lucky we are to live in the "home of the free and the brave".

I have been remiss in not sharing with you my good fortune to win a FQ bundle from Island Batiks quite some time ago. All I did was leave a comment and next thing I knew they pulled my name! Check out these beautiful fabrics!!!

Fabric Line: Fire & Ice

I finished "Yellowface" by R. F. Kuang. All I can say is it wasn't worth my time. There wasn't really a story to interest me, the characters were nasty women (dare I say bitches?), and there was definitely a political breath behind the words. Blah! I did manage to get to the end. It may have been recommended by Reese Witherspoon but not by me.

I've just barely started "The Women" by Kristen Hannah. I hope I like this one!

Our monthly sleep-in-your-own-bed retreat was last weekend. Those ladies are fabulous! We always enjoy ourselves and it's always good to catch up with one another. I worked on flying geese units for the Red Threads project. Loads of Kansas Troubles fabrics in here.

27 pairs of 56 total

I'm please to say that we had some rain this week. Of course now we worry about flooding! In the meantime my crape myrtle has started to bloom -- even after I gave it an ugly cut earlier this summer!

Cute little rogue sunflower too!

I hope you have a great week and can celebrate America and for everything she stands for.

Linking up with my I Like Thursday friends HERE.