Project Quilting 17.6 A Happy Handful

 

 The last and final prompt from Trish.  This year I  missed #4, Of Another Era. I started and failed in the completion.  Also I missed starting, doing, completing #5, My Complements. No post! I had company and doctor’s appointments. I planned on an Orange and Blue Tablerunner.

Anyway here we are. A Happy Handful.  The rules

Your project does not need to be a traditional quilt, but must meet at least one of these three requirements:

• include patchwork

• include appliqué

• have 3 layers stitched together by hand or machine.
  And this week, small enough to fit in your hand. For a while now I have been thinking of a year long and rather intense project. I want to make initial pincushions for every member of my stitching group. When I first had the thought, we had about 8 members. Now we are up to 15. So, I’d better get a move on!
  They will be birthday gists and this challenge is just what I needed to get going. The alphabet charts are from Jenny of Elefantz. The free alphabet is no longer on her blog, but there are lots of tutorials for her lovely designs.
  I started with L. The next birthday is in April. So this lovely will go to Lynn. The rickrack defines a tiny pocket. It could hold a small embroidery scissors, or snips, or a tube of beads for her projects.
  

  
  
  Thanks Kim and Trish for another fabulous year of pushing me to think outside the box and “gitter done” !
  I’m linking this up at Persimon Dreams, Kim’s blog.
  Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful. 
  
  
  
  
  
  

 

Project Quilting 17.4 Of Another Era.

 

Sometimes friends give me fabric. Lots of times it’s fabulous. Sometimes I think, “you’ve got to be kidding!” I received a panel years ago and the matching fabric. I have used it. ⤵️

 The iconic smiley face, a symbol of happiness and positivity, was created in 1963 by Worcester, Massachusetts, commercial artist Harvey Ross Ball. Commissioned by the State Mutual Life Assurance Company of America (now known as Hanover Insurance) to boost employee morale following a merger, Ball designed the simple yellow face with two black eyes and a curved mouth in just 10 minutes, earning $45 for his work. Despite its widespread popularity, Ball never trademarked the design, and it became a global icon without his financial gain. In 1999, he founded the World Smile Foundation to promote acts of kindness and support children's causes, and the first Friday in October is now celebrated as World Smile Day. The Worcester Historical Museum houses exhibits honoring Ball's legacy, and the city commemorates his contributions with the annual Harvey Ball Award, recognizing individuals who have made a positive impact on the community. 

1963 was a good year for me. I met and started dating Mr. Busy. I was a Happy Girl!

I needed to go sort of simple this week. I cut out the 2 large faces. To make a pillow. 

Right sides together…No-o-o-o! They are not the same size. 

There would have been wrinkles and tucks. Enter the yardage. I cut a circle of the many smiley faces fabric to match each face.  Sewed them together, clipped the seam allowances, turned them right side out, pressed them smooth. Easy Peasy!  Grabbed my bag of fiberfill and a chopstick for stuffing, a spool of thread for sewing the openings and started to stuff. And stuff and stuff

I ran out of fiberfill.  Not a tragedy, but it snowed and I didn’t want to drive to Hobby Lobby and I am bummed. 

Friday: the gym, stopped at Hobby Lobby, home, lunch date, trip to big box store to purchase new washer and dryer, home and a nap! I had 9, 572 steps in. I’m pooped!

The slump continued,  the challenge was not met! BOO!  

I’ll share at Persimon Dreams anyway.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful. 

Scrap Happy Saturday.

 

Linking up with Angela at So Scrappy  Green is February’s selected color. I made a second

 16 patch star block. . The one on the left is the second one. 

I also sewed crumb blocks. I’m using all my greens in the crumb blocks. 

Other sewing this week, was an item for Project Quilting 17. This week’s prompt was Of Another Era. So many possibilities. It didn’t go as planned.  This was a panel from my stash. A front and back of a Smiley pillow. I cut out the circles.. The directions say sew the front to the back and stuff. They are not the same size. 

Also a new prompt was announced for SAHRR. This week our round should be 2 Colors. 

Still haven’t landed on a plan.Maybe this afternoon. I might tweak the rules a tiny bit. No Quilt Police during SAHRR. This is what it looked like yesterday. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful.

ScrapHappy Saturday Jan 24

 

 

I didn’t sew much blue this week. There was blue in my Project Quilting 17.2. Scads of Plaids. 

And I made Blueberry muffins this morning. Does that count?🙂

Looks like my oven has uneven heat. Should’ve turned them. 

I have decided not to pursue the Delectable Mountains block. At least until I get my space under control. I’ll continue to make crumb fabric in the color of the month. I reserve the right to change my mind again. 

I linking up with Angela and friends for ScrapHappy Saturday. Will be looking for inspiration!

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful!

Finished or Not Friday 2026 #1

 

  I’m proud to announce a finish!  It’s been a long time coming!  I finished 2 projects for Project Quilting this season. 

They are both small, but small steps lead to sometimes bigger finishes. 

Project Quilting 17.1.  A Clean Slate   You can read more about Project Quilting here.. And about my project Here

Project Quilting 17.2.  Scads of Plaids.   My post about plaids is here!

I’m so glad to be able to join the bloggers at Finished or Not Friday. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful. 

It’s cold and we got a bit of snow. Those of you who are in the grip of the major storm, Be Safe and Stay Warm. 

Project Quilting 17.2

 

HOORAY!  I’m a fan of plaid. I don’t use it predominantly, but if I have plaid in the color I need, it goes in my project. 

January is a time for me to rethink my life, rearrange my stuff. …….I’m off to find plaid, blue I hope!

Success finding blue plaids. And some red, though they look sort of pink here. 

I decided on a Market Bag. Pattern from designer Carolyn S. Vagts. 

It calls for charm squares. My scraps aren’t always 5” and bigger. I could get 4.5” squares from most . So my bag won’t be 13.5 x 13.5, but I’m ok with that. It is 12”x12”x 4”. I quilted 1/4” on each side of all the seams. 

From a stack of plaid scraps came a market bag. I followed the instructions except for the smaller squares. 

The handles are a different fabric, closer to a gingham than a true tartan plaid. This bag has the handles going from back to front . Other bags I have made, have a handle on the front and a matching one on the back. I’m anxious to see if I like this better. 

I put a pocket on the inside, cause you gotta have a pocket. The lining is a buffalo plaid left over from my nephew’s Minnesota Gophers quilt. So definitely there are Scads of Plaids in this useful bag. 

I’m linking up with Kim and Trish at Kim’s Blog Persimon Dreams. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful.

RSC 2026 Jan 10th

 

I had the blues out this week. Earlier I cut some blue and some white squares that may become a Stash Buster block, for RSC. I’m linking up with Angela at ScrapHappy Saturday .

I only got started on the first block. I had to read and reread the instructions. Depending on how they go together, I’ll decide if they will be RSC blocks.

Trim them to 6” square, then slice into 1.5” strips, 

Then rearrange like this and sew together. 

This is the right side of the block, the other (left side) is the opposite. 

It’s the Delectable Mountain block. Have you ever done one?

Then I got the scrappiest bins out and made crumb blocks. I have no real plan for the crumb/slab blocks. But the scraps won’t end up in the landfill if I can help it.

 

I did participate in Project Quilting, but used aqua and a bit of lime green. 

Looks like my upcoming week will be busy. Mr. Busy graduated from Cardiac Rehabilitation and we have committed to walking 3 days a week to start, then add to that. We have a great county Recreation Center, so we won’t have a bad weather excuse. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful. 

I LIKE Thursday. #264

 

Sharing these thoughts with friends at Not Afraid of Color. After the national events this week we really need some Joy. We may have to manifest it ourselves. 

LeeAnna wants to know if I sing in the shower. I do not. And Mr. Busy is grateful. I used to sing, but not  in the shower. But as I have aged, my voice has deteriorated. I’ll hum along with a radio, or disc on the player. I don’t have a playlist on my phone. 

This week I was able to sew. I finished my Table Scraps Challenge for December. You can check out a few others at The Joyful Quilter

And I’m participating in the 17th season of Project Quilting. If you want to find out more about the challenge, go to Persimon Dreams and check out her tabs. My entry for A Clean Slate is posted Here.

I’m still trying to decide on a block or blocks for Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2026. I need to finish some prior year’s UFO. 

I like the 16 patch stars Little Penguin Quilts  did. Like these:

Downloaded from the internet…not Diann’s

And I’ve thought about the Stash Buster Challenge blocks from Border Creek Station. It’s  a Delectable Mountain block. Decisions, decisions!

One last thing. I got my haircut today and Cassie made a hairdresser’s decision to give me a do!

The jury is still out……but the curls won’t hold anyway.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful.