I like Thursdays: December 26, 2019

Happy Boxing Day!

Did you have a nice holiday?  Our holidays are becoming more a Christmas week.  We started with a nice lunch on Christmas Eve with Nik (our son), Audrey and the girls.  Yesterday we visited Mom and later Nik and Audrey brought their new 10 week old pup to visit.  Ruca (the pup) was Scout's favorite present!

The two frolicked and played and played and played.  Scout was very kind to Ruca and let her gnaw on Scout's favorite bone.  After their visit Scout ate and then retired for the evening :D

I received some surprise gifts this year!  LeeAnna, our hostess with the most-ess who sponsors "I like Thursdays" sent me this neat mini quilt with photos of Scout!  I love it!  Thank you LeeAnna! She even shared a few extra photos of Scout-on-fabric for us!

Continuing the poodle themed surprise gifts was my husband who got me two neat poodle sweatshirts:

 My personal favorite, because it is so true!

I did get in some sewing this past week and am continuing my quest of getting rid of things I am finding in the sewing room.  A gazillion years ago, I was using up odd pieces of fabric to make pinwheels.  I think they may have been triangular pieces from a snowball quilt I made.  They are small and I hadn't realized I made about 150 of them.  Back when I made them, I was a very frugal quilter and of course, my eyesight was better.

I made four patches out of them which made a nice 7 inch block.  I tried a variety of layouts with them but each scenario seemed to busy.  I reverted to doing something I hadn't also done in years which is an alternate solid block (in indigo).  I think it turned out nice:

This piece kept reminding me of oldest and best friend Linda and when I texted her the photo, she swooned over it.  I did run out of the navy fabric and have to pick some up for a nice border but the piece will make a nice lap quilt and coordinate with her navy couches.  I even have enough blocks left to make a tablerunner for her sideboard.  Win win and less in the stash drawers!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday!  Be sure to visit our other participating bloggers by visiting LeeAnna!

Have a great day!

Merry Christmas!

I like Thursdays: December 19, 2019

Good morning all!  Well it's a balmy 16 degrees here with a real feel temp of 3 degrees.  BRRRRRR!

The older I get, the more I tend towards decorating seasonally instead of for particular holidays.  One of the first things I do when it is cold is bring out my Nana Betty's painting:

When she passed, a lot of her writing and sketch pads were given to me.  I loved this one image and had it framed like this:

Nana loved winter and snow.  Through most of her life she disliked being hot and I'm sure that is one of the reasons why she gravitated to winter scenes.

I've spent some time sewing this week and finished a "good to the last drop" project."  This kind of project is my attempt to bust my stash by using as much of a particular fabric as I can.  I told my best friend I was working on this particular fabric and she made me laugh.

 "Good!" She said, "I never liked that fabric!"  Brahahaha!  Anyway,  I sent her photos of the finished top and wall hanging.  Her position about the fabric seems to be softening now :)  

Lap Quilt top

and

Wabi Sabi wall hanging.

This is all that is left of that fabric:

It's very satisfying to have an empty space in my cupboard!

I saw this idea on Pinterest for a different kind of sewing kit and think it is charming.  A teapot sewing kit!  Isn't it adorable?

"I Like Thursdays" is hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.  Join her for more positive posts!

Thanks for visiting!

Have a wonderful day!

I Like Thursdays: December 12, 2019

I'm posting a bit late today because I had computer issues this morning.  Happy Thursday!  It's time for the "I Like Thursdays" posts when we bring some much needed positive energy to the internet.  Be sure to stop in at LeeAnna's for more positive posts!

Last week Scout and I ran away from home to visit our friend Linda.  Linda has a lot of land and Scout loves going there to run and run and run...

Yesterday we awoke to a fresh snow on the ground.  The pavements were just wet so we took a long walk.  Scout loves to smell the snow but hasn't got it her technique perfected yet.  She inadvertently always inhales some snow and then has to snort it out :)

I love the silence of snow.  The stillness enchants me.

I love seeing children playing in the snow before school starts.  They had just gotten done doing snow angels..

The local fox might be a young one, he seemed confused by the snow and kept running here and there.  Finally got to a wooded area safely.

Last night the moon was full and appeared large like a harvest moon.  When we were walking home, it appeared bigger than the building beneath it.  Of course the more we walked, the smaller it appeared in the sky.  

I've been sewing when I'm not running errands for family and friends.  Today I shall only stay at home and putter and sew.

I've been making wall hangings out of my 47 tree blocks.  I figure I can use them for hostess gifts, etc.  Oh but I have to tell you...I found 10 more blocks in my sewing room.  They are smaller versions (I was REALLY into saving scraps years ago) but I'll use them to make a small wall hanging for Nana Betty's window.

Nana Betty's window explained:  when my brother replaced my Nana's windows years ago, I asked him for a couple of them.  I had my brother make a window stand.  It's where I tend to do the most decorating.  Right now this wee Christmas "I-spy" quilt is on the window.  Some years I go crazy decorating the window but I'm tired these days and keeping things simple.

Over at the Pennsylvania Piecemaker blog, we are having a giveaway.  You can enter by commenting today or tomorrow!

Have a great day!

Giveaway!

Step on over the Pennsylvania Piecemaker blog this week!

We are featuring a giveaway and to enter, just comment before Friday!

A Ray of Sunshine

We had a brief period of sunshine yesterday so I photographed my new top:

It's a green scrap quilt because my son's girlfriend loves greens.  My friend Linda suggested the black sashing and it works!

Do you look good wearing a hat?  

I don't. When my husband and I were dating, we went to the Kentucky Derby.  I had to look for a hat to wear and took my neighbor along to help.  I look so ridiculous that she laughed until she cried.  I think this is why I like collecting sunbonnet quilts (well one of the many reasons).

In Pennsylvania we have a lot of quilts that the girl isn't even wearing a sunbonnet but an actual hat.  I call these gals "Liberty Bells."

Over at the Pennsylvania Piecemaker blog, I posted a story yesterday about hats the suffragists wore.  There are some really fun aspects of suffrage that I've enjoyed researching and this story is one of them!  You can read it here.

Have a great day!

I Like Thursdays: December 5, 2019

Well it's Thursday again and time for another "I Like Thursdays" post.  Visit our hostess LeeAnna for more positive posts!

I like that Santa Claus is preparing for the holiday.  I know this because I saw this at the drycleaners the other day:

I've been sewing and that is fun.  The days have been grey though so I'll post a photo of my latest completed quilt top later when we have more sun.  

I mentioned last week that I am often so inspired by your posts.  True to form, Jocelyn over at Canadian Needle Nana inspired me when she wrote about a Tiny Tree Sew Along she was watching.  That jolted my memory.  Years ago when I was making a lot more Xmas quilts, I used the scraps to make tree blocks.  I went on the hunt for them and found a surprising 47 trees in my block drawer.  They are paper pieced and I'm still ripping off the paper (nice job at night during tv time).  Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get some small projects done using them!

The weather has been cold, icy, and a little snowy.  Scout and I have had to find alternate entertainments instead of walking 5 times a day (we are down to three walks).  I love this puppy!  She can be very expressive:

"Look into my eyes.  You will get up and give me snacks!"

"Throw the toy again!"

"I'm not going to stop tapping you until you give me a tummy rub!"

Have a pleasant day!