I like Thursday: April 30, 2020

Greetings and salutations dear friends!

Well the first thing I love for "I like Thursday" is that Oxford scientists have had promising results with a covid-19 vaccine.  It will still be months until their study is done...but it is a faint light at the end of the tunnel.  Of course, this news is making other researchers work even harder.

I love Oxford, mostly because I love PBS and have been watching mystery shows based there for decades.  First there was Inspector Morse, then Inspector Lewis and now Endeavour.  My favorite is Inspector Lewis and that show has great views of the university.  Of course, who couldn't love the institution that brought us C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Lewis Carroll?

I like that we had three partial days of sunshine instead of the grey rain or overcast days that have plagued us for months.  I've gotten some gardening done and my favorite nursery is open during the shutdown--they supply vegies and herb plants and deemed essential.  It is also open air shopping.  Everyone wears masks and maintains social distance.  It's really the only place I've visited (besides checking on my Mom) since the lockdown (our groceries are delivered).

I'm still making masks but I got one UFO finished this week (or semi-finished).  I finished this top for my friend Linda and at her request, made a table runner from the few blocks left.

We continue to trim Scout's hair and she is enjoying being out in the garden with me.  One day this week we had a weird experience while walking.  Suddenly Scout stopped and jumped on a neighbor's lawn.

She was perplexed by a unique situation with a squirrel.  It ran right across the sidewalk in front of us and it was lugging about 2 feet of landscape fabric in it's mouth.  And then it started to climb a tree:

Suddenly Scout turned and began to run away.  I swear she thought it was a monster squirrel and she wasn't confronting that creature.  We haven't seen the fabric on the ground since --so the squirrel must have decided it need some extra insulation in its nest.  It was hilarious to see Scout's reaction!

Over on the Pennsylvania Piecemaker (suffrage) blog, tomorrow will be "Flower Friday" and will feature flowers of yellow, purple, and white to honor our foremothers.  Tomorrow I'll be talking about my own suffrage garden and invite you to join me!

For other positive posts, visit our hostess, LeeAnna and be sure to check on our friends who are leaving sunshine on the internet today!

To Do Tuesday: week of April 27, 2019

This week I'm linking up to Roseanne's To-Do Tuesday!

I spent the weekend cutting up more fabric and elastic for another round of mask making.  We have more than 40,000 cases here in Pennsylvania and the county I live in has the highest rate per capita; 1 out of every 83 people has the virus here.  Masks are still needed.

The other project I am working on is my Christmas quilt.  The fabrics in this project remind me of my Nana Betty.  I have been playing with layouts but decided I don't want to do a straight patchwork quilt.

I decided yesterday that I would prefer to sash the blocks with this dark blue.  This blue was chosen because most of the fabrics pop against the color (versus lighter or mid tones that make the blocks fade away).  I'm hoping to get this top sashed this week.  

Have a great day and stay well and safe!

I Like Thursdays: April 23, 2020

Greetings and salutations!

It's Thursdays and a bunch of us fill the internet with positive energy.  For more positive posts, visit our hostess LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color!

Spring continues to arrive although it has been cool and rainy most days.  I haven't gotten much done in the garden besides attacking weeds because of weather and allergy challenges but at least the tulips are beginning to bloom!

Scout and I continue to maintain our walking schedules.  I'm looking forward to when it is warmer so I can really cut her hair more.  

I had a number of quilts that needed binding and I had assumed that I would be working on that for the rest of the year because of my work and travel schedule.  This past week I finished the last quilt that needed binding, it's another baby quilt and I love the sheep fabric and the quilting that my friend Terri did!

Now I'm on to tackling UFOs from my table.  I started yesterday and finished a quilt top for my best friend, Linda.  I'd really like to finish more of these projects; some will take longer than others but it isn't like I have a busy schedule these days.

Last night I made a spinach pie for dinner for us.  We hadn't had it in a while.  Normally I made a couple of the pies for holiday brunches but this year the kids' had new partners and we didn't see them until dinnertime or visited Christmas Eve.  Easter of course got cancelled.  So I made one for us and it was a nice change of pace.  Brad and most folks in the family always topped theirs with salsa; I like it just fine plain.

If you want the recipe, let me know.  It's about as easy as can be which is why it was always a great brunch recipe.  This time I used spinach but you can make it with just about vegetable or meat in it but we used what we had.  It made a nice meal for a cold and dreary day as well.

I hope you are fairing well! Stay safe and healthy!  Have a great day!

I like Thursday: April 16, 2020

Good Morning!  How are you doing?

We are hanging in.  Easter was fine and uneventful except for delivering food to our family members.  We couldn't see any of them unless they waved from the windows but it was still joyful to get some supplies to them.  So far so good with our "miracle man"--my uncle who had the liver transplant at the beginning of our lockdown.  He walked a mile one day last week!  My aunt is slowly but surely recovering from the stroke as well.  

The garden is blooming at a more rapid pace and it is now officially tulip season!

I like this towel my friend Pam sent me.  She sent me a whole box of antique and vintage linens and some I will share with my study group and some things I'm keeping--like this towel 😁

I like this poodle fabric and after making a ton of masks figured I may as well get around to making two for my husband and I (we had paper masks we were using).  Of course I used this fabric for my mask; my husband got a mask with some Flyers Hockey team fabric.

I'm still happily cutting my xmas fabric that I mentioned on Tuesday but I have finished binding another baby quilt.

 I like the quilting that my friend Terri did on it.  It has paw prints and kitten faces and whiskers on it!

Lastly, I am grateful for the beauty of spring which has been lifting my spirits every time Scout and I walk.

Have a great day and stay well!

To Do Tuesday

Roseanne has a "To-Do Tuesday" and a lot of the bloggers fill the internet with what they hope to accomplish that week.  This week I'm going to continue to sew so I thought I would participate.  

I need a little Christmas.

I took a break from mask making yesterday to cut up some Christmas fabric.  This is one of those "someday projects" that I thought I would get around to and yes, someday is here.  

I love these retro designed Christmas fabrics.  They remind me of my childhood and of the wrapping paper that my Nana Betty used on our Christmas gifts.  It's about time I get around to doing something with all this fabric so if I can get my squares cut out this week, I'll be happy.

I'm going to make four patches with the squares and to be honest, four patch quilts are analogous to comfort food to me.  I keep a whole array of layouts on my pinterest page of things one can do with them.  I'll decide on the exact layout after the patches are complete.  I'm using the scraps to make a smaller wall hanging for my "Nana Betty Window" that I use to display seasonal pieces.

At night I'm still binding quilts and have three to complete.  For this week, I would just like to get this baby quilt completed but often I'm too tired to see after dark.  Hopefully this one will be done by Saturday.

Well that's it for me.  Have a nice day and stay well!

Humor During Dark Times

I'm not sure who said it, but somewhere along the lines, I heard "Everytime you are able to find humor during a difficult situation, you win."

Yesterday, we delivered food to my aunt and uncle (the ones recovering from illness) and saw this sign at a local church:

Steve Krasinski has a youtube show called Some Good News; he just posted the third episode.  Full of humor and inspiration, he has raised my spirits multiple times.  Just google him and Some Good News and enjoy.

Andrew Cotter is a sportscaster in the U.K. and has at least two videos where he does commentary on his dogs (hilarious) so you can google him too.

Finally, check out Barbara Brackman's blog, Material Culture.  She has an hilarious post called Sunbonnet Sue in Modern Times that will give most quilters a chuckle.  You can find it here.  

Enjoy these if you haven't seen them yet and stay well dear friends!

Happy Easter

Just some spring...

Cold and windy here in eastern Pennsylvania today but still appreciating the beauty around us!

I Like Thursdays: April 9, 2020

Good Morning!  How are you doing?  We are holding our own here at Poodle Cottage.  The days continue to be warmer.  Last night we had the first thunder storm of the season and it created quite a light show in the sky!

I like some simple things this week.  I have been cleaning out nooks and drawers every few days and discovering things I had forgotten about.  One was a scarf that was torn but I stuck it in a cupboard so I could cut the buttons off.  The buttons looked to me like mother of pearl and I was surprised when I turned the buttons over and found they were actually made of shells!

I continue to cut Scout's hair and tackled her back so that I could at least get her tick medicine on her.  It looks okay for now.

We still go on long walks and I'm enjoying just getting out and seeing what is blooming.  I wear a mask, not simply because of COVID-19 but because the trees are blooming and I'm allergic.  Scout loves her walks but she loves front porches even more.  Brad was walking Scout last week and  I'm home and doing dishes and get this text:

She had climbed on Jessica's porch and her daughter sent me this text.  Looks really happy and comfy there, doesn't she?  The little traitor...

The color is off a bit on this photo but it's another "someday project" finished.  This will look cute hanging up near my retro inspired kitchen!  I have only two more quilts to bind and they are baby quilts at that.  

Mostly I'm doing the same thing you are, making masks.  I like that some of the elderly women in the neighborhood donated elastic because the elastic masks are quicker to make than the tie ones!  Tomorrow I have to take a break and wash more fabric and I MUST clean the sewing room.  I've been sewing so much that Scout's velcro fur is collecting threads and scraps whenever she hangs out in the sewing room! 😜

There isn't much on tv that I find inspiring these days so I just put HGTV on in the background while I'm sewing in the evening.  What are you watching?  

Other than that, we are fine and hoping to be able to work in the garden soon (pollen permitting).  Stay in, stay safe and stay healthy friends!  Have a wonderful day!

I Like Thursdays: a day late

The Pennsylvania landscape is becoming more colorful as spring unfolds.  I'm sorry to be posting a day late but I had to grocery shop yesterday morning and well, you know how that goes.  But back to brighter things:

Well with our new normal, I've taken to cutting Scout's hair.  It's necessary.  Wooley Booley has hair that is so long I can't get the brush to her scalp right now.  I'm also concerned because we had such a warm winter and ticks will be a problem.  I do a little every now and then.  Here are before and after I trimmed her head hair.  Yes she looks like a flathead 😋

But as I travelled down her body (on another day) I am pleased to announce we can once again see her collar:

I finished some projects this week.

My niece's quilt is now done:

Another "someday project" is now complete.  Years ago I found some beautiful appliqued towels made by Home Pride Linens.

 The only one that had been used was this one with the two kids on it.  I made it into a wee wall hanging that I will use for Valentine's Day.

Another "someday project" was this old wreath that I had saved for years.  It's over 25 years old.  I took it apart...

 And made a Springtime and Suffrage wreath with what I had at home.  The dark color is actually a royal purple but we've had so many grey days I couldn't get a decent photo of the color.

I hope you are staying safe and healthy. 

Be well dear friends!