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. 

Table Scraps Challenge December 2025

 

I sharing this table topper in the VERY LAST Table Scraps Challenge . I’ve participated in this challenge since The Joyful Quilter first introduced it five years ago. It’s been great fun to follow a prompt from Joy and the RSC color of the month from Angela. I’ve made mostly small table mats, like this one. But also a few other things. 

Joy is not hosting in the new year due to some health issues. She needs to focus on some good self care. I get that. My participation in some of 2025 was hit and miss, due to Mr. Busy’s health issues. But I will miss the challenges and the satisfaction of using up my scraps. 

Decembers color suggestion from Joy was Rainbow.it was December and though I’ve sewn with rainbow fabric in the past, all I had left was flannel.The prompt was Give Peace A Chance.   I struggled trying to do the peace sign. 

An artist I am not. I finally found some sort of rainbow colored Christmas light fabric and settled on four colors of hands making the peace sign. 

I’m searching for a motif to go in the center. Til I find one that’s not a bit bulky, I’ll use this American Flag patch that came off one of Mr. Busy’s work uniforms. 

It will live on my side table next to my chair for the foreseeable future. 

Thanks again Joy for making this challenge so much fun. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful. 

Table Scraps Challenge

 

October is nearly over. Time for the Table Scraps Challenge. This month the “color” was Light and/or Dark NEUTRALS. And the TSC prompt was denim.  I haven’t made a couple of denim button front shirts that I like to wear over tanks in the summer, over tee-shirts in the fall and spring and over long sleeve shirts in the winter. 

A favorite well used one with a Fall theme had seen better days. 

Faded is ok with me, but holes in the elbows…..not ok. 

So I went to my crumb blocks box and found a light neutral piece and a dark neutral piece. I put a scrap of light weight Heat n Bond on the back of both pieces. I rounded the corners of each one and ironed one on each elbow of my faded denim shirt. 

I whipped stitched each one into place. Then went back and blanket/buttonhole stitched both. I began practicing some embellishment stitches.      ⤴️

       Looks like I need more practice ⤵️

I finally ended up using a small embroidery hoop to save my left hand. Stitching on a sleeve takes constant rearranging of the fabric and your grip!

I preserved, even adding an embroidered butterfly to a worn spit on the sleeve placket. 

This is the left sleeve. 

And finished.    Maybe it’s just mending, but I used an interfacing, so it’s 3 layers and I “hand stitched/quilted”  them.  And I used up some of my scraps and save a shirt from the landfill. 

Sharing with like-minded quilters/makers at The Joyful Quilter for Table Scraps Challenge. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful. 

It’s almost the end of the month.

 

And you know what that means. Finishing up! (Or at least trying)

Getting to the sewing room has been difficult. Between cardiac rehab 3x a week for Mr. Busy and other medical appointments, tests, etc. and the daily cooking, laundry, and grocery shopping it seems there is no time. 

I was able to get the side borders on my string quilt. The pieces are cut and sewed to each other to make the top and bottom. Mr. Busy helped me measure it on Monday, but that is as far as I got. Maybe tomorrow. 

Seems like both our hobbies end up in the family room. There is one of Mr Busy’s airplanes!

I was also able to work on the Table Scraps Challenge. It was mostly hand work that could be done in the evenings as we sat together. 

No potato chip blocks were made. I wanted to lay them out on the floor for a photo to see what colors might need more blocks . Just before I was ready to get a photo of the potato chip blocks, I went into the laundry room to check on the rugs from the bathrooms. There was water seeping out from under the dryer. We have a sump pump down there and periodically tree roots grow in the pump tub and keep the water from being pumped out. So a halt was put on every other project while we attended to that.

Just now, as the laundry room has been recovered I took time to lay out the potato chip blocks. 

Looks like I need at least one more orange one. And maybe hold off on the brown because this will be narrow and tall. The blocks are 9” finished so that makes it 45’across and 72 “ long without the brown. Maybe a different arrangement or only lengthwise sashings. It will require more thought. I will make one more orange block. 

Hope you all have a great rest of your week. I’m linking up with Angela at ScrapHappy Saturday

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful. 

Table Scraps Challenge

 

Well,  I failed again this month. This has been a favorite challenge since its inception over at The Joyful Quilter.    I’ve let Joyful down again. My focus has been Mr. Bush’s health issues this summer. Between hospital stays, doctor’s appointments, new medications, symptomatic episodes I haven’t been in the sewing room much. September’s prompts were light blue or green and Television/Radio.  I kept thinking radio waves but kept seeing cardiac monitors. So this is what happened. 

Absolutely nothing!!  Again I apologize, Joyful. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful. 

. 

Hot Flash in the Pan

 

Sharing at Table Scraps Challenge for August 2025. 

I finally struggled through the Table Scraps Challenge that was this month’s color, aqua and the prompt of Hot Flash.  If you log onto this post, at The Joyful Quilter , you will see the various ways other bloggers interpreted the challenge. 

Every month this year I have used my cutting scraps, sometimes also my scrap baskets to make crumb blocks and use them in the TSC. So aqua scraps became a rectangle. 

I folded it in half over some scrap batting. And proceeded to appliqué some images and letters. If you have done applique, you know the “reverse image” conundrum. Letters are an extra struggle. An H, an O and a T are easy. They are the same right side up or flipped over. Other letters not so easy. Think F, L, P ,N.  You get the idea.

Now I’m no artist. I can barely draw an acceptable heart. I use the internet a lot! I search for free images, with no copyright . FLASH was not easy. Every one I found referred to The Flash. The movie, the cartoon.

©️ 

 So I slashed and cut and redrew and cut again. Acceptable for this “soon to be covered by a hot pot of soup”, hot pad. 

And as of Saturday at 1:30pm , it was done. 

I’m calling it a Hot Flash in the Pan. 

I finished it with a leftover strip of binding, cut from 2 1/4” down to 1 3/4”. I use the Edyta Sitar technique for smaller items. You can find the YouTube video here. https://youtu.be/jWauykQzr7w?si=rnh8V0fi0PEfc45o  or search FQS videos for the double fold binding. It’s 11 years old!

Sewn on the back , wrapped to the front and sewn down with decorative stitch #26 on my old Bernina. It is a  sort of featherstitch. I like to use these challenges to try new ideas and techniques. 

Mr Busy took  me out for lunch, so I’m just now posting this. Out to lunch in our world means drive through Jimmy John’s sub shop and take it to our favorite park to eat. Then a stop at the hardware store for a new shower head for the master bath. Fun times!!

Now I’m off to read the posts at Table Scraps Challenge and Scrap Happy Saturday. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful.

ps: I got interrupted again and didn’t get this posted til Sunday. 😕

Last Aqua Chip Block, a Crumb Creation and a Struggle with Letters

  

This week has been a struggle. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s the hint of winter, maybe it’s something else. 

I finished the embroidery of the label for the heart quilt that will go to my friend’s new granddaughter. I can’t show the label, because I haven’t asked for permission from the new parents. But you have all seen the front in this Post.

I finally struggled through the Table Scraps Challenge that was this month’s color, aqua and the prompt of Hot Flash.  If you log onto this post, at The Joyful Quilter , you will see the various ways other bloggers interpreted the challenge. 

Every month this year I have used my cutting scraps, sometimes also my scrap baskets to make crumb blocks and use them in the TSC. So aqua scraps became a rectangle. 

I folded it in half over some scrap batting. And proceeded to appliqué some images and letters. If you have done applique, you know the “reverse image” conundrum. Letters are an extra struggle. An H, an O and a T. Are easy. They are the same right side up or flipped over. Other letters no so easy. Think F, L, P ,N.  You get the idea.

Now I’m no artist. I can barely draw an acceptable heart. I use the internet a lot! I search for free images, with no copyright . FLASH was not easy. Every one I found referred to The Flash. The movie, the cartoon. So I slashed and cut and redrew and cut again. Acceptable for this “soon to be covered by a hot pot of soup”, hot pad. 

I’ll post to Table Scraps challenge as soon as it’s finished. 

One final Aqua potato chip block for the 5th Saturday. 

I’ll linking up to RSC and ScrapHappy Saturday at Angela’s blog. Hoping for a long weekend to sew!

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful. 

Aqua Chips and Crumbs

 

Linking up late Saturday early Sunday with some aqua sewing. Some days don’t go as planned. But I am linking up with ScrapHappy Saturday this Sunday Morning. 

Here are all four potato chip blocks so far. 

While stitching these, I worked on some crumb blocks. 

Then searched the internet for images of flashes , fire, lightning. IYKYK!. Table Scraps Challenge is just around the corner. 😀 🔥♨️❤️‍🔥⚡️

And of course I STILL stitching octopuses!

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful!

Purple English Garden and Slow Big Stitch

 

I feel like I might have turned a corner and found my sewing stitching mojo!

I had a pile of purple scraps and needed a small Table Scraps Challenge (TSC) project. I’ve done mug rugs, coasters, table toppers and mini quilts. As I was thinking about it, my eyes landed on my water bottle koozie. Mr. Busy and I use them to keep track of whose water bottle is whose. I know we should use more eco-friendly containers.  But I can barely get that stubborn man to drink water at all, and a bottle is all he will use. Mine should be cuter than this. 

Using the commercial koozie as a pattern, I measured, drew a crude sketch and finished sewing a crumb block that was 4X9.5. I wish I had taken progress photos but I wasn’t convinced I would be successful. 

Then I layered it with a scrap of batting and quilted it with free motion flowers:

The bottom, the circle pieces did not go as “my vision” thought. It’s wonky but it works.

I hand stitched a 1.75” wide strip to the outside of the quilted tube. I had already pressed both long edges to the middle. Resembling bias tape, but not cut on the bias. Then I turned it to the back/inside as I might do a regular binding. 

Today I will big stitch the front binding, just to make sure everything holds and because I like the look. 

Then I will continue slow stitching on my Hello Summer cross stitch. 

I’m linking with  Table Scraps challenge @ The Joyful Quilter   and

Kathy @ Slow Sunday Stitching

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful. 

ScrapHappy Saturday

 

Joining Angela and other scrappy quilter for Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I finished the four and final? Purple Potato Chip block and a final orange one from June. 

I got all the glowing hearts together in a grid and bordered them with purple of course!

This will be headed to the quilter as soon as a backing is constructed or purchased!

Now all the scraps and leftovers are in the process of becoming a Table Scraps Challenge at The Joyful Quilter. I have a vision. 

Check back with Joyful tomorrow or Monday and see if I completed it. LOL

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful!