Social Media Icons

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

November Color Challenge - Blueberries


Today's post for the 2021 Monthly Color Challenge for November is short and sweet. I'm pretty late to the party this month and am barely squeaking in my post to Jen's linky party, which ends later today! The theme for 2021 is fruits and veggies, and this month is blueberries. Jen provides a pattern (available free during the month, $1 after the month has passed) with options for 12-1/2 inch and 6-1/2 inch sizes. My 6-1/2 inch block is a blueberry with purply-pinky notes!

A pile of Color Challenge blocks from this past year

Next month will be the last block for the year, so it will be interesting to see what kind of layout these make. In the meantime, go look at other versions of Jen's block right here.
Monday, November 29, 2021

To Do Tuesday 11-30-21

Welcome to To Do Tuesday! Tomorrow is the first day of December - eeek! It's time to reluctantly put autumn behind us and start the countdown to Christmas. Join us in posting about projects, activities, tablescapes, decorations, anything at all is welcome! Just click on the linky below to add your post.

One of the blocks on my completed RBD quilt - post later this weeki!

My "aim for" list last week was generous but unrealistic considering Thanksgiving week. Here is how I fared in accomplishments:
❌1. Sandwich, quilt, and bind Indian Corn. - Sandwiched and started quilting and ran out of thread! Thread was ordered and delivered and is now waiting for me to finish quilting.
❌2. Quilt and bind SAHRR quilt.
✅3. Bind RBD block challenge quilt. - Finished it! Haven't posted about it yet
❌4. Post about my quilts. - Still working on my posts for RBD and DashAlong
✅5. TV time slow stitching - I did accomplish a stitch or two

Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange Project

I did almost finish my upcoming project for the Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange at Just Let Me Quilt. My post is on December 9, so I will be working on that this week.

My goals for the coming week:
1. Finish quilting Indian Corn
2. Make Color Challenge block for November and post later today!
3. Make new Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail block and post
4. Finish Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange project and get post ready
5. Post my finishes
6. Quilt and bind SAHRR quilt
7. Work on Christmas stitching projects





Our Thanksgiving was fast but joyful and fun! I always forget to take a group photo, so the above are a few I snapped while the older grands played with the littles.


Here is a sneak peek at my DashAlong quilt - post coming sometime this week!

Now it's time to show us your stuff! Please add your post to the link below then go visit a few blogs to spread the blog-love! Be sure to visit Marsha's Spot, since my website is quirky with taking you there.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

To Do Tuesday 11-23-21 - Thanksgiving Week


It's To Do Tuesday for the week of Thanksgiving (for those of us who celebrate Thanksgiving). Today I prepared for Thursday with roll baking and cookie dough making (see our Thanksgiving menu below). Our kids and grandkids will all gather here on Thanksgiving. What are your plans for the holiday? Share in the comments below!

SAHRR quilt ready to be quilted, and Indian Corn in the background waiting for sandwiching
Here were my plans last week:
✅1. Bind DashAlong and post about it - Finished it, photographed it, washed it, and cuddled under it, but haven't posted about it yet!
2. Quilt and bind SAHRR quilt - No, but it is ready to quilt
3. Sandwich Indian Corn, quilt, and bind and post about it. I'd like to have it on the sofa for Thanksgiving! - No, but I still intend to finish it by the time everyone gets here!

I finished Autumn Jubilee aka "Oklahoma Sunset" mounted in our entry hall - blog post is right here

RBD Challenge quilt

I got squirreled by my own self this week! I had planned to hand quilt my RBD (Riley Blake Designs) block challenge quilt but after doing a few blocks, the strain on my hands was too much, even with one of those nice plastic snap frames. I ripped out stitches then threw it on the quilting frame where each block got its own unique quilting. It was good practice! I'm noticing some improvement in my straight stitching, which is very encouraging. The binding is cut but not yet sewn together - that might happen this weekend. 

Here is my "aim for" list:
1. Sandwich, quilt, and bind Indian Corn.
2. Quilt and bind SAHRR quilt.
3. Bind RBD block challenge quilt.
4. Post about my quilts.
5. TV time slow stitching

Here is our menu for Thanksgiving:

Charcuterie Board
Roasted Turkey Breast
Apple Cranberry Sauce and Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Mashed Potatoes and Dressing and Gravy
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potato Rolls
Toffee Pumpkin Cream Pie
Brown Sugar Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles


Our son and DIL and three oldest grands (ages 22, 20, and 18) will have an early Thanksgiving with her brother in Austin then drive here on Thanksgiving and spend one night before heading back to their home north of Houston. Our daughter and the "Littles" (ages 5 and 2) who live about 50 miles from us will come for the day. We are sad for our daughter as she navigates a divorce during the holiday season, but on a positive note she is doing better and most days dreams of a happier future. She is strong, she is a wonderful mother - the kids are her priority - and she is determined to get through this as amicably as possible. We are so proud of her!

Sweet Potato Rolls - recipe is Amish Potato Rolls from King Arthur Baking.
I tweaked it by using sweet instead of russet potatoes and honey instead of sugar

Please feel free to link up a post at the linky below. I enjoy reading all your posts, and I learn so much from each of you. Thank you all for continuing to link up each Tuesday, but if you are too busy this week, it's OK! Just a reminder for those of you who schedule your posts ahead of time - the linky opens at 12:01am each Tuesday and closes the following Monday at 11:59pm. UPDATE: Those are the times when I put in the correct dates! Sorry about the late opening this morning!

ALSO: My website continues to have an issue linking to "Marsha's Spot" blog. Inlinkz support reportedly is "working on it". In the meantime I encourage you to go give Marsha some blog love - just click on this link: Marsha's Spot.

Happy Thanksgiving!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Oklahoma Sunset Quilt

Meet Oklahoma Sunset, named for my home state and my favorite time of day!


Inspiration web photo

This quilt was created from a compilation of influences, starting with the above photo of leaves in an unbelievable array of colors, sparked by squirrel-spiration on Diann's blog, and brought to life through a pattern by Carole at From My Carolina Home.


Although Carole's pattern calls for an additional 3-1/2" outer border, I was aiming for approximately 36" x 36" so I could hang it on the wall, so I stopped with the scrappy border. Carol's PDF patterns for the quilt were in her weekly tutorial posts and were well written and easy to follow. The quilt was part of Carol's Autumn Jubilee, which was a celebration of fall with tablescapes, recipes, embroidery, and all sorts of fun projects. I didn't know about the jubilee until after it started, and now I can't wait for it to start next year!

Mr Quilt Model, showing the backing, expected me to crop him out of the photo, but I love his bald head!

The batik binding perfectly matched several pieces of fabric in the quilt, such as this green Grunge

The colorful batik backing was a serendipitous find at Joann's Fabrics, and it has every color from the front. It even has purple, although it's hard to see in the photo. I also used it for the binding and love how it occasionally matched parts of the scrappy border.


Our entry hall contains a refinished console table that belonged to my mother-in-law. It serves as a decorative "bar" as well as a place to feature seasonal decorating. I've wanted to hang seasonal wall quilts for a long time, and Oklahoma Sunset is the first!

Carole's leaf pattern is a keeper!

Quilt Details for Oklahoma Sunset
Pattern
From Carole at From My Carolina Home

Finished size
36" x 36"

Front Fabrics
Mostly from scrap bins and partly from stash

Backing and Binding
Joann's Fabrics batik

Thread
Piecing: Superior Threads So Fine 50wt - #402 Pearl
Quilting: Superior Threads Magnifico 40wt - #2068 Ingot

Quilting
Meander stitch on Handi Quilter Simply Sixtten

-To Do Tuesday 11-16-21



Welcome to To Do Tuesday for this third week of November! How is it that November is halfway over? It is going faster than ever! Please join in our fun today by linking your post to the linky below and show us your latest projects. Last week 24 joined up!

Jack critiques quilting on Autumn Jubilee before I sew a quilt hanger on the back.

Here were my plans last week:
✅1. Bind DashAlong and post about it - Binding is sewn on one side but waiting to sew it to the back
✅ 2. Sew together blocks and sandwich Indian Corn - Partly done - flimsy is made and backing is pieced..
✅ 3. Quilt and bind Autumn Jubilee - Done and will get its own post later today
4. Quilt and bind SAHRR Christmas quilt - Not yet but it is next up on the frame
5. Night-time slow stitch - None


DashAlong binding is sewn on and waiting to be hand-stitched to the back. Since we rearranged furniture in our TV room, I no longer have a table or light next to me, so I ordered a task light to sit next to my side of the sofa. I thought I could live with the lack of direct light, but I was mistaken!


Indian Corn flimsy is ready, backing is pieced together, just waiting to be sandwiched!

Here are my plans this coming week:
1. Bind DashAlong and post about it
2. Quilt and bind SAHRR quilt
3. Sandwich Indian Corn, quilt, and bind and post about it - I'd like to have it on the sofa for Thanksgiving!

Next week will be Thanksgiving week! Feel free to share your plans, your projects, your bucket list - your lists are welcome in the linky below, and check back during the week to visit the latest linkups!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
Sunday, November 14, 2021

New Mexican Block - Pieces Of The Santa Fe Trail


Here is this month's block for Pieces of The Santa Fe Trail Sew-Along, hosted by Melva at Melva Loves Scraps. This sew-along follows the memoirs of Marion Russell, who traveled the Santa Fe Trail in a wagon train during the mid-1800s. This block is the New Mexican Star and is representative of an excerpt from Marion's story about meeting her future husband, her marriage, and the birth and death of her baby daughter.



Marion's love story is so simply written, yet it is riveting and poignant. Melva encouraged us to write down our own love stories to preserve for posterity. Our kids know our story by heart, and there is not a whole lot to it! We met in elementary school when my husband and family moved from the "big city" of Tulsa to where I lived in a tiny town south of Tulsa. We started "going steady" when we were 14, went to the same college, got engaged at age 20, and married when we were 21 in 1969.


My Mom and Daddy dating in northern Oklahoma

The more interesting story to me is the love story of my Mom and Daddy. My Mom was raised by her aunt and uncle in rural southern Missouri. Mom was born in 1912, and her real mother died when Mom was 2. Her real Dad was forced by the hard financial times of those years to ask Mom's aunt and uncle (who were childless) to raise her. When Mom graduated high school, she became a teacher and taught in a one-room schoolhouse in her hometown. During one of her breaks, she went to visit her biological Dad, who lived in the tiny coal-mining town of Catale in northern Oklahoma. After Mom arrived she walked to the post office. My Daddy was standing on a porch reading a newspaper as Mom walked by. As she glanced at him she caught him peering over the newspaper to get a better look at her. They soon became acquainted at a church service and fell in love.


Mom about age 20 circa 1920s and a later photo of Daddy in the mid 1940s

Mom was 20 and Daddy was 17! They had a three year long-distance relationship and corresponded by letters. They were so much in love and only had infrequent visits, and they became so lonely for one another they decided to get married. Daddy had only gone through 8th grade and finding jobs was hard, so he worked as many odd jobs as he could find. What Mom earned as a teacher was very little, so their decision to marry was a difficult one with an uncertain future, especially during The Depression. But they were young and in love!


This photograph Mom sent to Daddy in 1933. It was made in her aunt's front yard in Missouri
and the caption on the back reads "Don't I look lonesome? I was thinking about you."

My fashionable Little Mommy early 1930s. She made her own clothes!

They married on a clear and very cold December day in Catale in 1935 and honeymooned that night at the home of one of Daddy's aunts. Daddy's youngest brother lived with that aunt, and they both kept knocking on their bedroom door, asking if they needed extra quilts or wanted something to eat, purposely being pests and telling them jokes through the closed door and making them laugh. Mom and Daddy had three children and never got rich, but they were successful in SO many other ways. The fact that I still pine for my childhood and our home in Oklahoma indicates what a happy upbringing they gave me! They were happily married almost 50 years before Daddy died from a heart attack at age 67. Their sweet love story still makes me cry even as I write about it.

There is only one more block to come on the sew-along, then the blocks will become a quilt! This sew-along is so enjoyable and meaningful. You still have time to catch up! You can see more details on Melva's blog and view the linky party for other versions of the New Mexican Star right here.
Tuesday, November 9, 2021

To Do Tuesday 11-9-21


It's that time of the week again! To Do Tuesday is the day we post about what we've been up to and cheer each other on. Even though I risk squirrel-spiration, I read all your posts and love reading about your lives and all your interesting projects. If you are reading this and haven't ever posted, please jump in and join us - we would love to see what you are doing this coming week. Whether it's quilting, photography, tablescapes, crochet/knitting, needlework, crafting, or any other hobby you enjoy, you are welcome to link up at the bottom of this post! 

DashAlong is ready for binding!

Jack approved the layout for Indian Corn but chided me for all the loose threads

Here were my goals for last week:
✅1. Finish quilting DashAlong - Done and ready for binding
2. Sew Indian Corn blocks into flimsy - No, but I did get the layout done with Jack's help
✅3. Sew piano key border around Autumn Jubilee project - Done - sandwiched and ready to quilt
✅4. Sandwich SAHRR Christmas quilt Done and ready to quilt
5. Continue to slow stitch at night - Some progress but not every night

I found this beautiful leafy batik at Joann's for the backing for my Autumn Jubilee quilt

My familiar-looking list for the coming week:
1. Bind DashAlong and post about it
2. Sew together blocks and sandwich Indian Corn
3. Quilt and bind Autumn Jubilee
4. Quilt and bind SAHRR Christmas quilt
5. Night-time slow stitch

I have to put my sandwiched flimsys on the design board so the kitties won't make beds out of them!

There were 24 (plus me) bloggers posting to To Do Tuesday last week! Let's see what you have planned for the coming week.

For those who like to schedule their posts in advance, the Inlinkz party opens at 12:01am on Tuesdays, and posts can be made until it closes at 11:59pm the following Monday.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
Tuesday, November 2, 2021

To Do Tuesday 11-2-21


Welcome to To Do Tuesday! You are welcome to post anything you like about your goals, accomplishments, dreams, hopes, and yes, even your "did not do" list.

I actually took this picture in Sam's Club in September!

I hate to tell you but it's already November - are you ready for the craziness of the pre-holiday season? I have nothing ready, but I love every minute of it!


Indian Corn blocks are ready to sew into a flimsy!

Last week my goals were as follows, and please look at those green check marks!
✅1. Quilt DashAlong - Progress - Loaded on the frame and one row quilted
✅2. Work on Pieces of The Santa Fe Trail blocks - I caught up and posted my blocks here
✅3. Make more Indian Corn blocks - Done - I made and squared up all 20 blocks
✅4. Make October Color Challenge Block and post - Done and posted here
✅5. Start on an Autumn Jubilee project - Started and posted here
✅6. Continue to slow stitch or crochet at night - Progress but not much


Autumn Jubilee project is ready for scrappy border

I can't wait to get started on the list for this coming week:
1. Finish quilting DashAlong
2. Sew Indian Corn blocks into flimsy
3. Sew piano key border around Autumn Jubilee project
4. Sandwich SAHRR Christmas quilt
5. Continue to slow stitch at night

Last week there were 22 (plus me) participants in To Do Tuesday. Please join our party and add your link below so we can cheer you on!

Here is the link to Marsha's Spot. Inlinkz has finally responded that they are checking into why my website has an issue with that link!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter