I like Thursdays: January 27, 2022

 It's Thursday and time to brighten up the internet with happy thoughts!  "I like Thursdays" was invented and is hosted by Lee Anna at Not Afraid of Color.  Share your gratitude and be sure to visit the other bloggers at Lee Anna's site here.

I love Alstroemeria--or Lily of the Incas-- especially in the winter.  They are such a pretty flower and bloom in all different colors.  Plus the flowers last for almost 2 weeks.

Foxholes!

It's fun to watch Scout in our yard.  You just never know what kind of tracks you'll see here.  The photo above is the front yard and the new fox hole we found there.  This is near where the chipmunks were living so I'm sure the fox was looking for a snack.  

Scout and I continue to walk at our local park.  With temperatures that are all to often below freezing, it is the safest place for us to walk and avoid ice.  It's cold but necessary for us to get a good walk in at least once a day.  I just checked the weather forecast and it looks like we are going to avoid a major snowstorm this weekend because the storm is heading off to the east.

Wishing you all a happy and safe weekend!

To-Do-Tuesday: January 25, 2022

 Happy Tuesday!  Time to post my goals for the week for "To-Do-Tuesday" hosted by Texas Quilt Gal!  Please be sure to visit her site for Linda and the other quilters work for some inspiration!

Last week's goals:

1- Continue to make snowball blocks:  Work has continued on the snowballs.  I have some blocks to assemble from last week's pile of snowballs!

2- Cut fabric for the Romper Babies quilt: Done!

Next week's goals:

1- Continue to scan photos and ephemera.  For years I've collected antique photographs, trade cards, and illustrations.  There are hundreds!  I was looking for a specific photograph last weekend and of course it was the very last photograph (it's on my other blog).  I decided to scan everything under different categories and organize these images in my external hard drive.  I'll do a little every day!

2- Continue to make snowballs!

Have a safe and happy day!

I Like Thursdays: January 20, 2022

 It's Thursday and time to post things we like on the internet!  Hosted by Lee Anna at Not Afraid of Color, please visit all the bloggers for a pick-me-up and some inspiration!

I like having a moment to BREATHE!  Life has been chaotic the last few months and the inclement weather of this week has really been a blessing.  On Monday I did some sewing and finished my first calendar block.  As I worked on it, I realized that in other years, this was a project that I would have whipped out in no time.  But life is what it is.

I also made myself a meal that my husband doesn't like:  

Spaghetti and Meatballs!

My husband doesn't care for meatballs, I don't know why.  He likes a heavy chunky sauce filled with ground meat.  I made my meal differently.  The sauce was very plain--like what you tend to actually get when you are in Italy.  While I ate, I reminisced about Italy.  In many parts of the country, you get a plate of pasta with a plain meatless sauce as a precursor to the main course.  Some parts of Italy start off with a salad, go to the pasta, and then the main course.  Other parts (northern as I remember) end the meal with the salad.

Meatballs remind me of my friend Beth.  She is half Italian and learned to make meatballs from her Italian grandmother.  Her meatballs are the best you will ever taste!  She uses bread soaked in milk to bind the meat.  Some of the best lunches I've ever had were at her house--meatballs and an antipasta (no pasta) and so filling!

Scout likes meatballs too!

Scout and I think that the fox has been in our yard during this week's inclement weather.

This hole is about a foot wide and I suspect that the fox made a meal of a rodent (chipmunk or vole) in our garden.  It's so amazing to see how the garden changes in the winter!

Wishing you a great weekend! 

Have a safe and happy day!

To-Do-Tuesdays: January 18, 2022

 

Hello and happy Tuesday!  To do we post our To-Do-Lists for the week!  For more inspiration, please visit our sweet hostess Linda at Texas Quilt Gal!

Goals from last week:

1--Continue working on January quilt block:  Done!

2--Cut fabric for the Romper Babies blocks:  Not done.  I'll get to that this week.

3--Continue making snowball blocks for the new quilt:  More done!  I finished 9 blocks last week.

Next week's goals:

1--Continue to make snowball blocks!

2--Cut fabric for Romper Babies!

That's it folks!  Have a happy and safe day!

I Like Thursday: January 13, 2022

 It's Thursday and time to post happy thoughts as part of "I like Thursdays" hosted by Lee Anna at Not Afraid of Color!

The snow is melting and we are expecting that today and part of tomorrow will be above freezing!  It's just a brief respite from the snow and the cold but I appreciate it!  We'll be doing more sewing this weekend when the Arctic weather returns!

I'm so grateful there is something good on tv again!  Watched the first episode of Season 2 of All Creatures Great and Small on Sunday and it was wonderful!

Scout had some great entertainment yesterday!  She really enjoyed watching this cheeky squirrel who climbed a bush outside Scout's favorite perch!

The squirrel completely ignored Scout's barking and continued to consumer the fruit from our Beauty Berry Bush!

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

Tuesday's To-Do-List: January 11, 2022

 Woke-up to a wonderful morning of 12 degrees; it feels like a good sewing day!

 

Time to unfurl the not-so-big list of things I would like to accomplish this week!  Please visit Linda at Texas Quilt Gal for more inspiration and bloggers' projects!sd

Last week's goals:

Finish sashing the twins' baby quilt:  Done!  I don't have a photo but they are finished!

Work on January embroidery block:  A little more done.  I'm learning to take advil and rub my hands with biofreeze right after I hand sew.  It works!

Cut up 19th century reproduction fabric for the new project:  Done!

This week's goals:

1. Continue to embroider the January block.

2. Cut fabric for the Romper Babies blocks I want to embroider this year.  

The romper babies were charming ads for patterns for children's clothes from the 1930s.  I've been cleaning up the ads as best I can so that I can make an embroidered quilt of the images.  Each time I get one done, I put the images on my Pennsylvania Piecemaker blog to share with anyone who might want these patterns.  Today's blog post (here) shares the latest Romper Baby and lists the other babies available so far.

3.  Whenever I'm really enjoying a project, I take it really slow.  I'm working on a snowball quilt for my 19th century fabrics and enjoying every second of it.  I'm hoping to get 2 lap quilts out of the fabrics I cut.

That's it folks!

Have a safe and happy day!

I Like Thursdays: January 6, 2022

 Today is "I like Thursdays" and time to post positive things on the internet.  Our hostess is Lee Anna at Not Afraid of Color and you can go to her blog for other positive posts!

I like flowers before snow storms:

Tonight  we are supposed to get our first snow.  Only 1-3 inches are expected but I wanted to brighten the house.

My husband drove to Detroit instead of traveling by air.  When I suggested he drive, he wasn't too keen.  But then he looked up the amount of driving time (only 9 hours) and decided it was do-able if he did a two day trip.  He doesn't need the hassle at the airports right now, or exposure to covid, plus I packed his favorites food for him.  This is a huge relief and I'm very grateful he chose to travel by car for now.  He seemed relieved too.  

PS- Of course we are getting snow right after he leaves.

Today Mom and I are having an indoor picnic!

She's bored and I don't blame her.  So I already made some chicken, am preparing macaroni salad as I write this, and some fruit.  We'll have lunch together and then begin watching her Brokenwood Mysteries DVDs I bought her.  If I actually sit and watch some with her, she'll get hooked.  She's been watching too much news lately and that is not good for anyone.

Hoping you are all safe and having a wonderful day!

Tuesday To-Do List : January 4, 2022

 Time to post the weekly goals!  Each week a lot of blogger post their projects and aspirations for the week.  Now that the holidays are over, I'm just getting back on track.

I'm working on three separate projects right now.  I'm sashing the baby quilt blocks:

One quilt sashed, one in the process and I think I'm just going to put a solid pink border on the quilts.

Working on a new calendar quilt.  I'm pacing myself on the embroidery.  One night I kept waking up with pain in my thumb.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.  Realized later when I was embroidering that my thumb hurt from hand sewing (it's arthritis).  Now I just do a little at a time to protect my hands.

The third project is just cutting some of my 19th century reproduction fabric for a quilt I want to make later this year.  The hardest part of the quilt was finding my Kona espresso fabric; I had bought the fabric last summer with this project in mind.  It took three days to find the fabric but I'm grateful it took that long.  I found the Kona that I'm using for the baby quilts during the hunt!

What are you working on?  Please visit Linda at Texas Quilt Gal to see what other quilters are working on!

Have a safe and happy day!

Happy New Year!

 

Have a safe and happy day!