Slow Sunday Stitching.

It really is a slow start today. I was the first one up a little before 8AM to let out the chickens from their coop. The call at 8:30 from my MIL got hubby out of bed. She was just calling off having the kids over today as Papa Andy is having a bad weekend. He is 88, and has a leaky heart valve that can not be operated on again. I checked on Em at 9:15 and she was still sleeping! I guess those teenage years of sleeping in are hitting as opposed to the 5AM and raring to go as toddlers! She is out now with Greg paining the modified nesting boxes. The rain was getting in so some fixes were in order.

I enjoyed some stitching time on the back porch last night working on a few of my hexagons. I have 2 left to do... and those might be stitched under the umbrella today on the pool deck along with the circle of the butterfly onto the wings! I hear 88F today..... 

I took this tin with me to car line this week and both kids grabbed it thinking their snack was in it! Their faces when they saw fabric was oh too funny!  I believe it was from a Girl Scout fall product chocolate peppermint this year. I love the snowmen and it fits my things for this project perfectly. Spool of thread for piecing and the hand quilting, pin case, pin cushion and scissors. The prepped hexagons tuck right in for easy access.

The butterfly needs those circles attached to the inner wing, then I'll finish basting it down. I need to cut out the background square so I can hand applique it along with the pink one. Are there green butterfly's? It sounds like there will be by the end of next month in my sewing room at least!

I was making great progress on the hand quilting of the hand pieced quilt along until mid week when binding projects took over. I plan to add some stitches into this at some point today as well. 

Speaking of the hand pieced quilt along- this years is called Harmony and I need to prep and make my first block before tomorrow. Thank goodness it is a simple square in a square block. It is a fun little sew along if you are interested in picking up a few tips on hand piecing. Mine will be red and white this year. 

The chickens are all back and the three home from the fair are enjoying the freedom of roaming in the back yard.... and dust baths in the section of the garden I left open for them. It was the first thing they did when we let them out of the travel cage.

Yes Mom, the garden is finally getting some things coming up - beans, peas, radish, spinach are up. The beets, swiss chard and carrots are starting to show now too. I need to move the buckets in the fenced area to replant the herbs. The chickens are playing in them where they are!

I headed out last night to offload a few cases of girl scout cookies to another troop to sell today. Seems the weather is affecting the shipments to the warehouses and I figured they could use them more than my troop! I wandered around Joanns and picked up some cream 90 inch backing that should work for 2 quilts with my 50% off coupon and then got a baby flannel 1.5 yard at 50% off for a backing of a little 40x48 quilt that I hope to get finished off this coming month. I also looked in the remnants bin and got 2 sky blues - one was a Kona and the other a regular cotton. Not bad for $24! This is what I saw on the way there - a big full moon. Good thing I pulled over for this shot on the way there, the clouds came in and it was cloudy with a little sprinkle on the way home after 9PM.

Linking up with the other Slow Sunday Stitchers at Kathy's Quilts. 

RSC Table Scraps Challenge

 It feels so good to get extra bits from a quilt turned into something fun and useful! I was able to make 2 - table toppers this month!

The first one I shared earlier this month and it has been getting used as my dinner placemat at the table. Such a sunny spot on my table.

The second topper got finished off tonight. It is double sided using extra bits from the same graduation quilts parts that made the placemat. One side is logs of yellow in a windmill type block. 

The other side is 5 - 16 patch blocks in yellows and blues. I do love these colors together.

This is the graduation quilt that the scraps came from.

I'll be linking up with Joy and her table top challenge.

I have also been making hexagon quilt as you go blocks this month in yellow. I admit... this pile is missing 5 of the 28 blocks.... but they are all prepped and waiting to be stitched. After all... there are 2 more days in February and plenty of time to get them stitched up before the new color is announced. I still have one set of blocks to make in yellow.... and hopefully they will get completed this weekend to show next week.

Linking up Saturday with the RSC.

Stashbuster 2020 is completed! February OMG complete.

 2 for 2 in 2021! I do wonder if I can keep it up!

I finally finished hand stitching the binding on the 48x60 Stashbuster quilt last night with a NCIS marathon. I think I am on season 7. Emily has started watching a few episodes with me - she likes Abby - the scientist on the show.

Lets revisit the February goal - Sandwich, pin, quilt and bind the Stashbuster 2020 quilt made with the RSC last year. I'm very happy to have checked off all the parts on this list and I just put the quilt into the washer so it will be nice and cuddly...... and all the chicken and cat fur will come off it!

Emily kept putting the chickens on the quilt. I think this was Emma. Molly was on it before this.

Then Poppy got held for a photo op with the quilt. This is the chicken that lays our green eggs =).

Aidan was trying to get Rosie over there but she had just laid a pink egg (it was very hot when I checked the nesting box) and was not having anything to do with being picked up right then.

Linking up with a completed February OMG. I have a few days to decide what the March goal will be but I think I'll shoot for another finish.... I wonder which of the 26 quilts waiting will bump up to the top of the list?

Also linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday

Wednesday already?

 Honestly, I have no clue where the last few days have gone! I think the last post was Friday or Saturday..... Sunday was busy with a few hours spent at the Agriculture Pavillion. Emily got into her FFA uniform and had her Showmanship appointment and then the Skillathon. Turns out that was a written test. 

She looks like my niece Sally in this photo!

Emily with Myrtle.

I ended up chatting outside in the shade with another Mom waiting for her kids who are in 4H. She had gotten a guinea pig last year from the fair and was telling me all about it.  Since our pancake mid morning breakfast was all gone by the time she was done her test at 2.... we perused the offerings for food after another check on the 3 chickens there in their cages. They had 2 food trucks - one had smoked BBQ - 4 big green eggs working on various foods and the other had a grill and fryer. We went with a cheeseburger and fries (me) and a hot dog and fries (Em). She also got a fresh squeezed Lemonade at another booth. We split a funnel cake for desert. I guess in the south it is funnel cakes and up north I grew up with fried dough. Both are yummy. 

I took pity on hubby and went and retrieved the boy from Grandma Sunday night as well. He looked like a 45 minute car ride each way would not be good for his back and was thankful I went. Em stayed home with him.

It was back to work on Monday.....and scouts on Monday night. We finished up a badge on Black History Month and they decided they wanted to make cookies next week! I guess through Zoom we will be mixing our cookie batter up and with parent supervision we will be baking off cookies. Dinner was easy - pulled pork in the crock pot with some coleslaw. I had prepped it Monday morning after dropping the kids to school. 

Tuesday - after school pick up we headed to the fairgrounds to check on the 3 chickens there. We will retrieve them on Saturday morning.... I do wonder how they chickens will all react when the 3 return! The boy had a headache and was a wee bit ornery. Dinner was baked greek chicken (Greek rub from pampered chef) with tatziki in a pita. I had my chicken on a salad with some feta cheese and olives. 

Wednesday - we had Mexican skillet (chicken, onion, peppers, corn, salasa, broth and minute rice with a little salt, pepper and chili powder with sharp cheddar cheese on top). The kids found that recipe in a Taste of home cookbook 2003 I think and requested it. It takes about 20 minutes to make - which is a nice quick meal. The boys are off to guitar lesson tonight. Emily is in her room and I think I'll work on some binding so I can maybe get a finish in February?

I have managed to stitch a few more of the yellow hexagons this week... but that is about it. Unfortunately, I am working tomorrow instead of having a day off so we will see if any more yellow is worked on this week or not. I'm going to see if I can finish the binding on my UFO this month - the stash buster quilt. Time for some NCIS and some needle and thread. Wish me luck.

Yellow weekend post.

 A bit late posting today. It was an early start - up at 6AM to get to the fairgrounds for 7:30 to prep the 3 chickens there for judging. They got put into the Commercial class since they are laying. We found out later.... most don't go and do anything but... it was our first time and she wanted to check on her girls! We also were able to to listen to the judge and he was telling us about how he judges them and showed Em the vents (yellow if just beginning laying and pale as they lay more!) and had her feel the 2 different bones they judge. He did say he liked the look of DC =).  She is bigger since she isn't really laying yet. 

I did get some sewing/prep time in today in yellow. I prepped enough hexagons to get me through the 25th of this month. I'll need to prep 3 more tomorrow to finish out the month. 

Then I decided to make some extra blocks into a placemat! I just did some easy straight line quilting on this and hand stitched down the binding this afternoon. These were the edges leftover from Sally's graduation quilt sewn into a pinwheel kind of block.

I also machine stitched this runner of extra blocks today and added a blue binding. I'll finish hand stitching that down tonight after game night. I hear it is either Clue or Parcheesi. One side of extra yellow strips from that graduation quilt.

The other side was turned into four patches then 16 patch blocks - 5 of them. I think this will probably be the display side...  until it gets dirty then I'll flip it over!

I had to machine quilt with the inspector Peanut in this position. The. whole. time.!

I did make these two yellow blocks on Thursday.

I also have more binding to stitch down on the Stashbuster 2020 quilt I made last year with the RSC. 

Linking up with Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and Slow Sunday Stitching on Sunday.

I'll link up next week with the Table Scrap Challenge with my finished placemat and the other table topper will be completed by then.

Sunday - we are back to the fair for the Skillathon in poultry. Aidan will be off to Grandma's for the day and Dad will be home doing homework. I only saw about 5 other people with masks on today... thankfully there were not many people there as it was early and chilly. I'm sure there will be more there tomorrow in the middle of the day. Em and I will have our masks on. Best we can do.

More quilting....

 

I finished quilting block #13 last night. 5 more to go then the sashing and setting triangles. Amazing how quickly it goes when you actually stitch on it each day! Must pop out for my walk before it gets too hot - 86 today if you can believe it! I know - most of the country would love these temps with the freezing that is happening everywhere. We are back into the 70's tomorrow thank goodness.

Tonight we will attempt to take 3 Plymouth chickens to the fair. Wish us luck in getting them there! They are out and about in the fenced in back yard enjoying their last day of freedom for a week.

A day off.....

 We are off for Presidents day in the US. Well, hubby was online doing some school work but the rest of us were off for the day.

Emily made me put the fencing up around the garden. The chickens are not happy with us right now. They were enjoying eating bugs and digging holes to have dust baths in there. I did leave them a little square so they can still dig.... dust bath and she can dump their droppings there to compost. We managed to plant last night and then the torrential rain happened overnight. Some big claps of thunder and lots of rain.  Yes, unlike most of the US- we were in the 70's and in shorts yesterday. 

I took Emily to Kohls to try and get her FFA uniform needs. Black jeans and a white button up shirt. We have the coat and the neck scarf and she has black boots from riding she can wear. Now, she is transitioning out of girls into the Womens/junior section. The inability to try things on in the store is a struggle. We tried a small mens shirt - that got returned. We tried some jeggings.... that got returned. I picked up the next 2 sizes up on the return trip and one of those worked thank goodness. Just one more return on the other size. We tried a shirt from Amazon... hopefully that will fit. Not sure why you can't try on in store but can bring home then return?  

The boy has been overdue for a hair cut for quite a few weeks. That was accomplished yesterday and I got mine cut as well. Lots of hair on the floor from both of us.

I did get a little time to finish cutting the yellow butterfly wings and got them sewn together by machine. I need to hand stitch the inner circle then baste them for hand applique. Not sure it that part will be a this year or next year project? We will see how the month goes I guess. I am undecided on the background - scrappy whites, same whites? 

Just a little hand stitching last night. I believe this is block #11 of 18 being worked on. I think I might pull out the little bit of straight lines I did in the sashing and do something else. It is a small sashing but maybe something with curves? Still time to think on that one.

The girl really wanted to move her room around.... including the dresser with mirror. Dad said his back was not up to it last night. I had mentioned once I sat I was probably down for the count after planting the garden. A very sad girl..... sigh. Mom got up and managed to scoot the dresser across the room and the bed and nightstand got moved as well. Girl is happy. It was not too bad to move and my back is not yelling at me today so all is good.

I just called my local quilt shop - they have template plastic - both regular and mylar. I had to ask the difference and mylar is ok to use heat on for applique. Learned something new today! They did not have the Jenny Beyer The Perfect Piecer ruler though.... which looks like a neat little tool for hand piecing and marking lines. Does anyone else have one they use for hand piecing? Recommended? I just use my little ruler and a pencil to mark right now.

Happy Tuesday.

Hand quilting on a Sunday

Well, it has been a little hand quilting each day this week. I have 8 of 18 blocks quilted. I am just outline stitching in all the blocks so far.  This is my Hand Pieced Quilt Along from 2019 I did in scrappy blues and white. I love the color combo. I'm going to try red and white with this years Harmony block.

This is the last block that I finished last night. So fun to stitch these.

My trusty hoop. I have a few other ones but this is the one I prefer. I have a large oval - but I can't get my arms to the middle so it does not work for me. I also have a pvc rectangle one, but I really like this circle one. It is the perfect size for my arms and me. 

Linking up with the other Slow Sunday Stitchers.  I also might have a binding to be stitching down later tonight on my Stashbuster 2020 quilt. That one got machine quilted this week.

RSC in yellow

 I have not done too much in yellow yet, but hopefully that will change this weekend. The kids and I both have Monday off for Presidents day. Saturday looks like a rain day - that means sewing time!

I did get these 5 sets of blocks sewn together. They measure 10x50 - and will be a double sided runner for the dining room table. I think I decided I will machine quilt through four patches for a cross hatch. I hope to get it quilted this weekend now that I have made that decision. The quilting decision often becomes a stop sign for my projects.

I took a photo Friday morning so here are my first 11 hexagons. I have another 6 prepped and sitting next to my recliner for one per night. So many shades of yellow!

Thursday I managed to machine quilt this Stashbuster 2020 quilt I made with the RSC. I finally decided to stitch through the chains and I like how it came out. I am debating a flower in the centers.... but not sure I am capable of machine quilting that.... and with warm and natural batting it really doesn't have to have more quilting added. I just need to trim and make a binding - which Emily will press for me! 

Linking up Saturday morning with Angela over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

After dropping the kids off to school I swung by Market of Marion - gate F for the produce section. They open at 8 on Friday and I got there a little after 9AM. Just a few shoppers in the open under tent market.  Got all this for $19! I though that was pretty darn good. The melons will get cut today and the chickens are going to go nuts with the inner seeds I think. Hubby requested these - they were $1 each and are all set to get cut up today. Gold Honeydew is new to us but the regular honeydew was not going to be ready to cut for 4-5 days according to the vendor. I got some tomato, limes and cilantro for some fresh salsa (jalepeno and onion and garlic I already have).  I need to cook up a pot of barley - I found it was a yummy lunch of a cup of barley cooked in chicken stock with some fresh salsa on top. The last time I cooked up the barley - I used it for a few days for lunches and hubby was having some at night when he was hungry. It was yummy as a little soup with some chicken broth, mushrooms and leftover chicken.  I used the last of the carrots in the stir fry last night so picked up some more. Plant City Strawberries -2 huge ones were already on my breakfast plate this morning with my wheat english muffin. The beets looked great and Em and I love them. Asparagus will go with grilled pork chops and roasted potato for dinner tonight.  I love the fresh produce this time of year in Florida. It is the second week I have gone there and I have a feeling it will become my go to Friday morning stop while school is in session. The spring onions last week grown in with the strawberries were oh so yummy too!. The cauliflower (purple!) looked so great but I had just had it this week so will pick some up next week. 

Hand Pieced quilt along progress

 I was able to stitch while on a video conference yesterday. I was working on the dutchmans puzzle block on the left. I finished it last night and started another block.

Today - my day off I have plans to quilt the Stashbuster 2020 quilt on the machine. It is a two time pickup today. Aidan is normal time and Em has an FFA meeting for an hour after school. 

Hand quilting - Hand Pieced Quilt Along 2019

 I'm making progress on this one. I have 3 of the 18 blocks hand quilted so far. I am shooting for one a day.... but we will see how that goes.

I do have a 2 hour virtual meeting today.... some stitching might occur during that!

Flowering snowballs

9 of these 12 inch blocks are completed and all are hand pieced. 

I had to go searching for my parts bag yesterday since I wanted to work on it last night after scouts (zoom meeting decorating cupcakes!) I found it in the car under a seat - it must have gotten shoved under the seat one day at kid pickup last week. Everything needs a good press. I have a few more blocks cut out and ready to go -  I just need to mark my stitching line on the middle square and the white half peels. 

When I have the Accuquilt out this week to cut my half square triangles in yellow, I'll also cut some yellow flowering snowball shapes to add to the pile of pinks I cut out last month. I am prepping a couple of blocks in the color of the month with the RSC so I'll have a kit ready to go later this year. 

 

Superbowl Sunday.

I don't tend to watch the game... and I'll probably be on the road to pick up the kids from Grandma tonight while it is on. I will get some time in the sewing room today. I need to do a little machine quilting on my Stashbuster 2020 quilt and some prep work on more Hexagon QAYG blocks that I am hand piecing and hand quilting.

Here are the first 6 for the month of February in yellow.

I also finally started hand quilting the Hand pieced quilt along quilt from 2 years ago. I have 2 of my 18 blocks hand quilted.

Since I did not make soft pretzels with the sourdough started in a couple of weeks, I pulled the starter from the fridge and fed it yesterday morning and have a bread in process. It rose overnight and is doing another short rise before I pop it in the oven. We will see how it comes out. I used this recipe. 

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Sunday stitchers.

RSC and a Teenager in the house!

 I have not done too much with yellow yet, but I have been making my Hexagon QAYG blocks. I guess I am a couple days behind but they are prepped so will be done in no time at all. I'll be prepping some more tomorrow for another week of stitching. I found I have a good pile of yellows, the scraps are not big enough for these but the yardage is. 

I also pulled some leftover scraps/blocks from Sally's graduation quilt which was yellow and blue Zig Zags a couple of years ago. I guess I made a few blocks from the scraps a while ago. There are 5 each of the top stacks in the photo which might become a two sided table runner. There are 7 of the 5 inch blocks on the bottom of the photo... I think those will become a 6 yellow on one side and the 3 more blue ones on the back for another double sided runner.  Linking up with the RSC.

This was the chickens yesterday in the unplanted garden. They have dug holes and then lay in them and give themselves a dust bath.  It helps to deter mites from getting on them. They kind of look like a dog shaking when they are done!

Poppy started laying this week - the one with the orange head. As an Easter egger mix breed she was crossed with one that lays green eggs and she is laying green eggs for us. We have not seen a white egg from Rosie (the other easter egger) in a while so not sure if she is laying or just dropping an egg somewhere in the yard? 

We also have a teenager in the house officially. Aidan turned 13 today! Where has the time gone?

Not sure how this little guy grew so fast into this one!

I seem to not have many photo's of him. This was last summer when we got the first set of chicks. He is now towering over me at a good 5 feet 6 or 7 (I'm 5ft2ish). He will be off with Grandma today for a birthday shopping trip and lunch like they always do. We had his birthday meal with the family last night - take out Pig and Cattle. He wanted to make his own birthday cake from the Hershey's cook book - so is in process of making that before he heads out. I was late in scheduling horses this week so Emily opted out of riding. I'm sure she will do a cookie booth on the yard at some point today. The benefit of living on a busy road. As for me - I see sewing in my future.

Thursday.

 Another day.... and no, I did not manage to do what I had planned. They day is not over yet though, so maybe tonight? We will see. 

I started off the day dropping the kids to school and had a parent that was to pick up their cookies for their daughter at 9:30. They arrived a bit after 10 and once that was transferred I realized I missed 6 boxes, their cards, envelope and 4 for 4 stack. I was heading out so dropped it to their house on the way to deliver some of Emily's orders to bowling. I opted not to bowl this year as I was not seeing people wearing masks back in May and not knowing how things were going and Greg's back I opted to take the year off. It was a good thing I did as it allowed me to work on Thursdays when I needed to bring Greg to doctor appointments and flexibility is nice. I walked in with my mask on and only the person I was delivering to had a mask on! These are older ladies (age 65+). After a little chat I headed off and decided to stop at Target to look for heart jr mints. There were none to be found but... I believe I was called a rude name for having a mask on by a 3 year old on the way in and then the nice lady at the door was handing out masks and reminding people masks were required in the store. The lady with the child say no thanks and walked on by! Almost everyone else in the store was wearing their mask. I was in and out of there. A quick stop at Joanns - masks on people thank goodness. Then a quick CVS stop to get a couple things for the kids and back home.

My fabrics from Joanns. Adding some yellow and pinks and white fabric for the flowering snowball blocks.

All I can do is shake my head at the people who just won't wear a mask. 

A quick lunch at home and then I was not in the mood to pin my quilt so I pulled the hand pieced quilt along quilt out and added some quilting while watching an episode of Brigerton on Netflix. 

This was as far as I got last night before my lap was claimed.

I got the block finished off today.

Pick up the kids from school (20 minutes there, waiting time then 20 minutes home makes for a good hour) then a mixed up dinner (kielbassa, leftover mashed potato, leftover sweet potato fries and salad).

I just downloaded a new audiobook so it is walk time before it gets dark and then maybe pinning time?