I Like Thursdays 3-30-23

I love this spot in my sewing room above my desk. The painting, done by Helen at Word Weaver Art, is my childhood backyard. The Lord's Prayer cross stitch was stitched by a good friend of my Mom for Mom's birthday. On the shelf - some trinkets that have special meaning. I view these things nearly every day and they give me joy.

It's time for another opportunity to list my "Likes" for the week! I'm linking up today with other bloggers over at LeeAnna's blog - Not Afraid of Color. 

I like our closet window! This is a view from the doorway to our bathroom. When we first looked at this house, we had no idea there was a window in the closet, because every square inch was covered with boxes and clothing. It was only when I looked at the outside photos of the house that I saw that window and realized it was a closet window. I love the light and the view it provides. The kitties love watching the birdies at the bird bath and bird feeders. They sit on the bench and "chatter". And yes that is a kitty water fountain in the floor. Our bathroom is the only area in the house where the kitties can have privacy while they eat, since we have dogs that want summa that cat food!

A peek into our pantry . . .my husband's Peeps and my M&Ms!

LeeAnna's suggested prompt for today is this:

Do you make a special baked good for Easter? For example, Rugalach or hot cross buns?  Have a story about this or a recipe to share?

We really don't do anything special for Easter, other than ham and deviled eggs. When I was growing up, Mom always made a feast at Easter. She was the Queen of Jello salads, and her Easter offering was Orange Buttermilk Salad, which was delicious with salty ham! You can find a similar recipe for it here.

An older photo from 2012!

We often enjoy strawberry shortcake at Easter, so this year I think I will make this pound cake, since it provides such a delicious vehicle for fresh strawberries and whipped cream. My husband loves it, especially when I make the pecan-crusted version from Allrecipes. I think my sugar-crusted version made with low-fat Greek yogurt is just as good. You can find my post about it (from one of my old blogs) right here, along with the link to the original, and I also included my recipe here as well.

Sugar-Crusted Greek Yogurt Pound Cake

adapted from Allrecipes.com

1-1/2 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup salted butter

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup low-fat Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

White sugar for cake pan

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 8 or 9 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle generous amount of sugar into pan and shake to evenly distribute throughout greased area; discard excess and set pan aside. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. In measuring cup, whisk together Greek yogurt and vanilla; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture alternately with Greek yogurt mixture. Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Do you have special baking traditions at Easter?

To Do Tuesday 3-28-23

Well this month is certainly flying by! I can't say that my projects are flying along with March - how about you? I'm joining with Carol and other bloggers for To Do Tuesday - go check out other posts right here.

The past few days have found me reaching for Kleenex. Might be a cold, might be an allergy with congestion, coughing, hoarseness, and low energy level! Let's see how I did this past week:

Last week

✔1.Get Cross My Heart sandwiched and quilted. Not finished yet but getting there!

✔2. RBD blocks - I have not completed all the blocks, but I've made a good start.

✔3. Start on a new quilt - I started a fabric pull and am looking at patterns.

This week:

1. Finish Cross My Heart

2. Finish RBD blocks

3. New quilt planning

4. Prep spring gardens

We will meet our son and family, our daughter and family, and grandson's girlfriend and her family at a restaurant in Dallas on Saturday. Our DIL had her first radiation treatment yesterday following her lumpectomy last month, and I can't wait to present her quilt to her.

Hope all of you have a great week of To-Dos!

I Like Thursdays 3-23-23

Toby and Rosie are helping me write my post

Welcome to my week of "Likes"!  If you would like to join in with me and other bloggers, just contact LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color, who graciously hosts this positive event each Thursday.

I had planned to post about what I like about my sewing room this week, but after I took photos I changed things up again - lol! So I will go with LeeAnna's prompt this week about vegetables:

"Do you plant a vegetable garden or pots of herbs? What are your favorites to plant? Do you prepare seeds in advance or buy little plants? A raised bed, patio pots, or in ground? Any suggestions to what grows well? Varieties you enjoy?"

Here are some pictures from my favorite gardening book

My dream garden!

Martha Stewart in her Turkey Hill Farm garden circa 1980s

Let me just say, I LIKE gardening! My dream for decades has been to have a lush vegetable garden, styled after Martha Stewart's profuse gardens featured in her Gardening - Month by Month book. I used to thumb through the pages of that book for hours and dream and plan! Her garden was huge, abundant, flourishing, and surrounded by roses. I never quite achieved the "Martha look" in gardens, but she inspired me, and over the years I have planted varieties of tomatoes, green beans, corn, squash, cucumbers, radishes, lettuce, onions, peppers, strawberries, watermelon, and pumpkin - all with varying degrees of success - as well as herbs such as dill, cilantro, chocolate mint, basil, sage, and oregano.

This was the last big garden I had in 2020, before we moved to north Texas.

I used to prepare Excel spreadsheets for garden inventories with rough layouts of each section and kept religious notes for each year. I browsed seed catalogs and seed websites in the winter and had my seeds delivered before the end of the year. My favorite things to tend were tomatoes.

See the darker tones on those yellow tomatoes? Those were part of the color!

Some years I planted tomato seeds in starter trays filled with potting soil for seeds The year I bought a heat mat was a game changer, and using it alongside a window with good light is essential. Some years I opted for seedlings at either Home Depot or Lowe's, and I always looked for heirloom varieties. In my opinion the ones I started had stronger stems and roots than those I purchased. Overall, buying seedlings is much easier, but I miss looking through the enticing tomato names. Some of my favorite cherry tomatoes were Black Cherry (great eating with a sprinkle of salt), Brad's Atomic Grape (fun to look at and tasty), Yellow Pear (mild but looks beautiful in salad), and my very favorite and most flavorful cherry, Sungold. For eating tomatoes, the best (IMO) are Red Beefsteak (sweet and meaty) and Black Krim (juicy and pretty). Really you can't go wrong with any tomato that has "Black" in the name, as they tend to have a richer flavor. When I look at the photos of tomatoes on a seed website, I always look for tomatoes that look "beefy" with very few seeds. My favorite seed companies are Pinetree Garden Seeds and Baker Seeds. 

One of my successes with watermelon - it was good!

My husband built an arbor with a sitting bench for the garden, and I hung bird feeders in it and planted roses and vines to grow on it. Around it I planted several packets of zinnias, and they thrived and made a home for dozens of butterflies (and some bees!) I believe flowers are definitely good for gardens. I would give anything to have dozens of roses - climbing, antique, hybrid tea . I have yet to have any luck with any but climbing roses.

Since we acquired two dogs who love to trample and dig, my garden dreams are on hold for a bit. I do intend to plant a tomato or two and will head to Home Depot tomorrow to see what is available. How about you? Do you have garden plans this year? Do you have some secrets to gardening? What do you like to grow and how do you grow it? Be sure to check out other positive posts right here.

Little Green Apples Blog Hop - My Day

Today is my day on the Little Green Apples Blog Hop, hosted by the fabulous Carol at Just Let Me Quilt. At the end of my post, the links for the entire four days are included so you won't miss any of the posts! Be sure to visit the other posts for today.

My Little Green Apples flimsy

Painting of my childhood farm

Brown Sugar Apple Pie

Green apples remind me of the house in northeast Oklahoma where I spent most of my childhood and lived until I got married. We moved into the house in 1958. There was a big barn and hay field behind us and a milk farm next to us and all sorts of new adventures for my 10 year old self. The house had been built in 1940 and had an old orchard in the field next to it that included apple and peach trees. In the painting above (painted by Helen Eaton at Word Weaver Art from one of my old photos), the orchard was to the left of that big tree. After a storm, the orchard would flood with about a foot of water and it became a playground for me to toss fallen green apples into the water and see what kind of splash they could make. Granny would ask me to gather a bunch so she could make green apple pies in the summer. That is my Brown Sugar Apple Pie pictured above, but it looks a lot like the ones Granny used to make - you get the idea!

Bea's cover version "pops" more than mine, and you can more clearly see the design.

The challenge was to make something with green or green apple-themed or both In the beginning I had a different pattern and fabric picked out, ordered my fabric on February 10, and waited. I finally canceled the backorder and decided to go with a different pattern. I ultimately chose the cleverly designed "Apple Pie" pattern from Bea Quilter. In my version there are "green apples" as well as hints of their pinkish skin as they ripen. And I found the neatest fabric for the outer border - glowing fireflies against a black background (see photo below). We had a lot of fireflies on our farm at night!

I ordered Key Lime Grunge for the smaller inner border

 I'm so excited about this sweet firefly fabric! It will be the outer border.

The flimsy is currently 27-1/2" x 39-1/2", and after two borders are added, final size will be about 36" x 48". When finished, this quilt will go to the pastor at my daughter's church for use as either a baby quilt or a wheelchair lap quilt.

Thank you so much, Carol, for all your hard work in hosting such a fun event!

MARCH 20

Just Let Me Quilt

Quilt Schmilt

Quilting Gail

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

DesertSky Quilting

Days Filled With Joy

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Sew Many Yarns

 

MARCH 21

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Quilted Delights

Karrin’s Crazy World

For The Love Of Geese

Vroomans Quilts

Quilted Snail

Homespun Hannah's Blog

The Joyful Quilter

 

MARCH 22

Inflorescence

Ms P Designs USA

Words & Stitches

The Crafty Grammie

Beaquilter

Texas Quilt Gal

Pinker n' Punkin Quilting & Stitching

 

MARCH 23

Moosestash Quilting

Patchwork Breeze

Crazy'boutquilts

Selina Quilts

Samelia's Mum

Just Because Quilts

Scrapdash

That Fabric Feeling

To Do Tuesday 3-21-23

Toby, right before he used the pressing mat to sharpen his claws

Wow what a fast week. I did get a few things done though, how about you? I am joining with Carol and other bloggers today for To Do Tuesday, where we list accomplishments (or lack of) and make plans for the coming week. Let's see what happened here last week.

Everett and Laney helping Papaw find "poop". They love poop duty - lol!

We had The Littles from Monday until Thursday, when we delivered them back to Mommy. She got to have some much needed alone time, and we enjoyed having them to ourselves! While they were here, they made quilts, baked cookies, played outside, petted the dogs, tried to find the kitties (they were mostly hiding), and kept Papaw and Grandma busy. They both cried a little for Mommy the first night, but after that they were fine. We've never had them that long, and it was really enjoyable. We are already planning for another visit in the summer.

Everett and Delaney sewing!

Mommy took their pictures when they got home because Grandma forgot!

When I asked them if they wanted to make a quilt, they got excited. They chose fabric from the scrap bins, then I cut the pieces to 2-1/2 inch squares. They arranged them on the design wall, then we started sewing rows. Laney was able to reach the foot pedal and did some sewing by herself - she did great! For Everett I had to hold the fabric plus operate the foot pedal, so he didn't get to sew as much, but he was OK with that. I had them pick backing and then help me sandwich them; then they chose binding fabric and thread for front and back, and Grandma finished them up. Their quilts were the first thing they showed Mommy!

The last night they were here, I caught a virus that really knocked me for a loop, and I was pretty exhausted after they left. Almost back to normal now. I rarely get sick, so I'm guessing it was from the little visiting germ factories!

Here is my list from last week:

✅1. Keep The Littles until Thursday! - Done and loved (almost) every minute.😉

✅2. Start on Little Green Apples project - Flimsy done - my day is tomorrow!

✅3. Work on Cross My Heart - Backing on design wall, ready to sandwich!

❌4. Work on SAHRR and try to do a post - I took apart my elements and will be redoing this project!

❌5. Catch up on RBD blocks - Printed the patterns - that's as far as I got

My playlist for the coming week:

1.Get Cross My Heart sandwiched and quilted. We will see our DIL on April 1 to present it!

2. RBD blocks

3. Start on a new quilt

Be sure to visit Carol's linky for lost of squirrel-spiration and fun!

Little Green Apples Blog Hop March 20 - 23

This is the first day of the Little Green Apples Blog Hop, hosted by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt! Isn't Carol's logo cute! Click on the links below for today's date to go see what goodies have been created and make some new friends!

MARCH 20

Just Let Me Quilt

Quilt Schmilt

Quilting Gail

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

DesertSky Quilting

Days Filled With Joy

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Sew Many Yarns

 

MARCH 21

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Quilted Delights

Karrin’s Crazy World

For The Love Of Geese

Vroomans Quilts

Quilted Snail

Homespun Hannah's Blog

The Joyful Quilter

 

MARCH 22

Inflorescence

Ms P Designs USA

Words & Stitches

The Crafty Grammie

Beaquilter

Texas Quilt Gal

Pinker n' Punkin Quilting & Stitching

 

MARCH 23

Moosestash Quilting

Patchwork Breeze

Crazy'boutquilts

Selina Quilts

Samelia's Mum

Just Because Quilts

Scrapdash

That Fabric Feeling

I Like Thursday 3-16-23

Fun times in Papaw's shed!

It is time to list our Likes! LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color hosts this weekly gratitude event. Visit her blog to see more thankfulness!

As I am writing this post , we have The Littles here spending time with Papaw and Grandma. They have been here since Monday morning, and Jenni picks them up today. I like that we live close enough to our daughter to be able to do this. Before we moved here in October 2020, we lived 220 miles from her, and now we are about an hour away.

I will have skin cancer surgery in April, and I like having a dermatologist I trust. Ours is a PA, and I trust her every bit as much as I would a dermatologist with a medical degree. She works with degreed dermatologists, and is diligent, personable, caring, and personal.

I missed two of LeeAnn's prompts in February about our creative spaces, and they are so interesting to me. I plan to feature them next week when I have more time! But today I will answer her prompt of "Do you like Spring flowers? Which ones are your favorites? Do you plant them in your yard? is there a particular color you like?" Yes I love spring flowers, but my favorite is one that does not do as well here in north Texas. I grew up with beds of peonies that were planted back in the 1940s when my childhood home was built. We had white ones mostly with a few reds and pinks scattered around - the fragrance was heavenly. I also love roses but have never had much luck with them!

I'd love to read about your favorite spring flowers, so feel free to mention them in the comments. All of you have a wonderful week!

To Do Tuesday 3-20-23

Today's post will be brief - I am composing it on Monday, about 2 hours before The Littles arrive for a 3-night stay. Yesterday we had breakfast at a local cafe, then I cleaned bathrooms and kitchen while Hubs cleaned the yard of dog "poo" and mowed, so the kiddos can play outside. This morning we still need to vacuum tons of pet hair and dust!

As you can see, last week's list mostly begged for attention. All I can say is, there were many distractions!

❌1. Finish up Cross My Heart

❌2. Catch up and finish SAHRR

❌3. Catch up on RBD challenge blocks

❌4. Start on Little Green Apples project hosted by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt

✅5. Take The Littles to school and preschool on Thursday, then take dogs to the vet

On the list this week:

1. Keep The Littles until Thursday!

2. Start on Little Green Apples project

3. Work on Cross My Heart

4. Work on SAHRR and try to do a post

5. Catch up on RBD blocks

Linking up with our gracious host Carol at Quilt Schmilt, and you can find her linky right here!

To Do Tuesday 3-7-23

Another Tuesday has quickly arrived, and it is time to look back at To Do list from last week and look forward to plans for the coming week. To Do Tuesday is hosted by Carol of Quilt Schmilt, and you can find her linkup and links to many inspirational posts right here.

Looking from our house to the west as this complex of storms was dropping heavy hail west of us 

Last week was a week of distractions. There was turbulent weather all day Thursday with heavy, large hail and a few spinup tornadoes, but we were lucky to receive only a bit of pea-sized hail and wind.

Another distraction was a couple of room rearrangements, selling some furniture, moving furniture around, and driving to pick up a Marketplace purchase. It seems the older we get, the more fun we have rearranging and reorganizing - lol!

And finally, Friday started out as a day to watch The Littles while Jenni and John went out of town. Well it turned into a wedding day for our daughter and new son-in-law! The original plan was to drive to his hometown to visit his Dad, but he surprised Jenni by taking her to a Justice of the Peace, with his Dad as witness. They spent the weekend visiting his college and meeting many friends, eating out, and just enjoying his small hometown. They are planning a small wedding with family and friends at their current church in November. This romance and marriage all happened rather fast, but we are happy for them because they are so happy!

HST Quilt

On Sunday Jenni and John attended his hometown church and presented the pastor with a small quilt, which will either be a baby quilt or wheelchair quilt. You can read about that quilt right here.

Today my husband and I had visits to the dermatologist. I will have three skin cancer surgeries in April. Recovery is supposed to be easy, so I don't anticipate not being able to sew!

Let's see how I did with the list from last week:

❌1. Finish up Cross My Heart - No progress

❌2. Catch up and finish SAHRR - No progress

❌3. Catch up on RBD challenge blocks - No progress

✅4. Babysit with Everett on Friday! - Done!

Here is the playlist for the coming week - mostly carryovers from last week:

2. Finish up Cross My Heart

3. Catch up and finish SAHRR

4. Catch up on RBD challenge blocks

5. Start on Little Green Apples project hosted by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt

6. Take The Littles to school and preschool on Thursday, then take dogs to the vet

Hope you have a great week!

Second Chance HST Quilt

My handsome Quilt-Holder

Some say that every piece of scrap fabric deserves a second chance, and that is the case for this quilt. 

Cross My Heart flimsy

HSTs

After cutting pieces for the hearts in Cross My Heart quilt (flimsy pictured above), I was left with several decent sized triangles. I paired them with the dark eggplant background fabric and ended up with 128 3-inch HSTs.

Photo from the internet

I followed this design I found somewhere on the internet. If it is your design or if you mentioned it on a post, I apologize, and please yourself a shout-out, and I will credit you.

It took awhile to place those HSTs like the design, and I might have messed up somewhere, but overall the design made an attractive layout. I decided to separate sections of it with sashing in order to increase the size of the quilt. and added cornerstones for interest. I like the dark eggplant so much I also used it for binding. In retrospect, I wish I had added a coping border in dark eggplant, before adding the final border.

I really loved the fabrics for Cross My Heart (post on that one is coming in the next week or so!)

Hard to get a good photo of the backing

Here's a closeup of the pretty backing.

Quilting was a simple meander on Longmire

Our daughter delivered this quilt to the little hometown church of her sweetie after they attended service there over the weekend. And the pastor took them to see a quilt she is working on - isn't it great! It is my hope that this quilt will serve as a baby quilt or as a wheelchair quilt. 

Quilt Details:

Pattern: Internet photo

Finished size: 42" x 42"

Laundered size: 40-1/2" x 40-1/2"

Fabrics:

Front: HSTs made from leftover scraps from Cross My Heart quilt

Background: Basic Grey Grunge in Sugar Cookies

Backing: From stash - no selvage identification but I think it is several years old

Superior Threads:

Piecing: So Fine #50 - #503 Genoa Gray

Quilting Front: Fantastico - #5169 Sterling Silver Variegated

Quilting Back: So Fine #50 - #522 Barely Pink

I am linking up with Brenda's Monday Musings and Melva's Sew and Tell!