I LIKE Thursday #4

I’m joining LeAnna at Not Afraid of Color this morning. She hosts a place to put positive thoughts. 

I LIKE:

By my chair.

Sometimes I grin at the simplest things. Like a can of Bubly in the afternoon.

The tab says, “heya”. It made me smile. 

This is cherry and on the side of the can has a cute  saying also! I’m a fan of Michael Buble.

Last week, Sylvia at Treadlestitches posted about the denim quilt she was making for her son from recycled jeans. She went on to show other recycling she had done.  So it got me to thinking!  I LIKE recycling too. 

Our small city used to have a recycling program called the Blue Bag Program. They only had a outlet for certain types of recyclables. But it was something.  #1 and #2 Plastics, tin, aluminum, corrugated cardboard and mixed paper. (office paper, newspaper, magazines).That took care of a lot of my trash. I felt good about doing my part. Then about 3 years ago, they stopped picking up blue bags curbside for free. Now you have to sign up and of course pay for the service. Or you can sort it your self, and haul it to the CARE center at the County Landfill. Mr Busy and I have more time than money, so he constructed a small recycling center in our garage and we "kept on".  But I also recycle things in my house. You already know I like scraps of fabric, so I recycle fabric. I have two jars that used to hold specialty jams, filled with sugar cubes and powdered coffee creamer, beside my Keurig. 

I have a glass container that used to have a Glade candle in it, that now holds paper clips on my desk. 

And this one will make you shake your head !  I recycled  a take out coffee lid from my favorite coffee shop ( October- Breast Cancer Month so it's Pink) to cover my regular mug at home as I walk out to the front deck or downstairs to my office or sewing room. It doesn't fit snugly, but I hold it in place with my thumb and it works. No more little brown spots on my hardwood floor or carpeted stairs!

I LIKE that  Mr Busy is recovering well from his oral surgery last Thursday. We had only one "iffy" day and that was the very first one. Other than not being able to eat everything he wants to. He is feeling well enough to continue to work on refinishing our back deck, and we took the Gold Wing to the repair shop in South Dakota ( 2 hours away) last Friday. edit: after I wrote this post, we made a quick trip back to the dentist for medicine in a "dry socket" Wednesday afternoon!. .  So it goes! 

That's all for this Thursday. I have a "Squirrel" to go work on. I was scrolling through some quilting type emails and ran across a preprinted panel of mask fronts. 

It's a Moda Fabric panel. And although I don't necessarily need any more adult masks,there are some kids,  I know, who are going back to school!  I think that is ill-advised.....but what can the parents do? 

The panel was available from Stash Fabrics  and it was on sale. I am anxious to do the little ones. I may revamp the directions a bit. I like to be able to use adjustable ear pieces. So I'll probably add a casing to run the elastic or tee-shirt tie through. 

So off to the sewing room I go. 

I'll check back  and visit some of the other's blogs that LeAnna has pointed me to. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy.

ScrapHappy Saturday End of July

I didn't really sew any more Dark Blue RSC20 projects this week. So I'm just going to recap. 

I've made six hollow 9 patches. 2 Geese Migrations blocks for my RSC 2020. 

1st 3 9 patches, 1 geese migrations and a couple of sample Easy Breezy blocks.

The second geese migration and 3 more hollow 9 patches. 

I did use some dark blue in the red, white and blue star block for Covered in Love. 

And then I added more Rails and Nines to my design wall. I am stumped as to how to proceed with this. I need to rearrange for color balance. Then try to decide if it needs sashings or just borders to bring it to a usable size.  In my mind it is too busy, but I always like it when someone else does the truly scrappy thing. I first saw these blocks on Treadlestitches blog. She added a border and it was fabulous. 

Maybe mine are too dis similar. I don't know. ??

There is some dark blue in these block too!  hahaha! 

I think I'm looking forward to August and a new color and maybe some new inspiration.  I need a finish!. 

I'm linking up at ScrapHappy Saturday.  Hop over and see what every one else has accomplished. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy

July OMG Bed jacket

Authors note: I wrote this post when I took the picture below! 

Today is 7-7-20. My great granddaughter’s  4th birthday! I’ve never missed her birthday. This is a first and I am a bit melancholy.  edit:  my granddaughter arranged a ZOOM birthday party. So we were able to talk to her, see her open her presents, sing Happy Birthday and watch her eat a unicorn rainbow cake!!

I did stay busy and finished my goal .   

It’s a tiny bit big. But it’s a bed jacket and I’d rather have it roomy than tight. It looks funny, I know.  It's short so it does not catch under my “tush” when I am in bed. The sleeves might be too long, but I’m going to live with it for awhile. I can always shorten them. My current jacket, that I wear at night,  has sleeves that pull up, and I constantly fiddle with them. So we’ll see. 

July started here. 

Then  progressed to pattern on fabric!

Following the directions I got the collar onto the jacket front/back. 

Then the front facings were interfaced and edges finished. 

Sleeves were next and I forgot to take pictures. Then the underarm side seams followed by the hem.

The pattern called for a ruffle on the bottom and on the sleeves! No , thank you! 

Last step is buttons and button holes. I have had this Bernina since November 2002. I've mended and quilted, made dolls clothes and little girl dresses, but I had never made a button hole. Had never used the automatic buttonhole foot. What better time to try?

So I auditioned buttons from my button containers.  

Purple-y pink, dark teal, limey-yellow or just plain old white?

I settled on the limey-yellow. Not too big, not too tiny and it looked just right to me. 

I studied the Bernina manual. I watched a couple of YouTube videos. I studied the manual again. Then I made a practice piece of flannel with interfacing inside, to duplicate the weight of the front facing. 

I had been using light grey thread for construction. I'm almost out of white and my LQS is closed for a week  the first part of July.  The practice button holes looked dirty using the grey thread. So after I was satisfied with the method of making the correct sized button hole. I re threaded my machine with the partial white spool. First button hole was a disaster!!!!  I had forgotten to thread the lower thread through the bobbin finger. A huge  SIGH and maybe a bad word...a workout with tiny scissors and my seam ripper, and the knot was removed. After that all the buttonholes went fine. And I patted myself on the back! (figuratively...I can't really reach my back to scratch an itch, let alone pat myself on the back! 

https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2020/07/one-monthly-goal-july-finish-link-up.html

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy

Finished or Not Finished Friday. Just Blocks

My finishes don’t look like finishes.  I have made 4 blocks for the current Covered in Love block drive. The blocks are finished and will go in the mail the end of August, with an additional four. 

And in the Not Finished category....some more Easy Breezy blocks that are the current Bonnie Hunter Leader and Ender project for the next year. I hope to do a bunch more. 

I have been working on some Rails and Nines also! Here are the 12 finished ones. There is another under my needle. Not sure what these will be. I think they need sashing or an alternate block. They are so busy!!. There is more blue in these, and airplanes, transformers, baseball stuff, planets. So they could be boy themed. But also there are flowers and bumblebees sooo ..  WIP is still the name of this one. 

I'm linking up with Alicia at Finished or Not Finished Friday.  Hop over there and check out some other finishes. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy. 

I LIKE. Thursday #3

Good Morning All   I'm participating in I Like  Thursday at Not Afraid of Color. Come and visit!

Beside my chair:  Monday-  a glass of iced tea, unsweetened, no lemon, a bottle of water and my phone! It seems I always have water nearby. And I drink a lot of iced tea in the summer. 

Flowers:  Mostly wild this time

A columbine. Photo was taken in the Snowy Range in Wyoming! 

Some peonies and iris that my SIL grows at her house in South Dakota.

An iris growing in the ditch near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming!

Daisies in abundance near Newcastle, Wyoming.

Forget-me-nots in a field near Custer, South Dakota.

And Bee Balm near Custer South Dakota. 

I like:  Garden Art

A plaster Roadrunner. Gift from friends we used to ride motorcycle with. Our motorcycle chapter was named the Gillette Road Runners. 

A metal roadrunner. Gift to Mr Busy from our daughter. He’s kind of funky. Our great granddaughter loved them both. She called them “ chickens! “

WORDS :

I like real mail. My SIL is the best correspondent. Frequently, for no reason, I’ll get a hand written note and a real photo or two. And she has  such pretty penmanship. I'm not sure you can  read it. But the salutation is "Pandemic Greetings!"  I'll be keeping this one for a scrapbook or something. 

My sis is pretty good about cards and notes too! 

This I found on the internet . It seemed appropriate in these days of hate and vitriol that is getting spewed on so many fronts.

Currently Reading:   A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult

I haven't read Jodi Picoult in a while. I am enjoying this one. Maybe my reading mojo is coming back. This is #3 this year!  Sad, I know! 

Be sure to go to Not Afraid of Color and check out all the links to the blogs who participate. 

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy

ScrapHappy Saturday Dark Blue Saturday #3

Just a little dark blue sewing this week. 

Another Geese Migration Block. Trying to get the colors to progress from light to dark, top to bottom. 

Not sure I was successful, but it will be OK!

Three more hollow 9 patches were my leaders and enders.  That makes 6 total. I have no idea what I will do with these. But they are easy and fun. 2" strips and squares are always in my scrap box. 

I started making stars for Covered In Love block drive for July-August. If you don't know about this charity, check it out. I am not always able to donate a whole quilt. I have to schedule and pay a long arm quilter. But I can always send blocks. Even in this time of weirdness!  It doesn't cost much to cut your stash and mail off some blocks. 

Two are done. I am aiming for 8. This drive is extra fun and easy. Only rules:  12.5" unfinished block. Red, White and Blue Star. Any star. Any combination of red or white or blue. If you check out Kat's blog you will see the amazing results. 

That's all for this week. And I'll leave you with a quote from my six year old great grandson. By way of clarification, he calls his grandma ( my daughter) YaYa.   "YaYa, I have been here(in this house) like 5,000 days!"     Poor weary kids. They don't understand why their life has changed so drastically. If we could just #wearthedamnmask and get this spread under control,  then we could all go back to better normal. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy

I am linking with Angela at So Scrappy's ScrapHappy Saturday. 

Finished or Not Finished Friday DIY Redo

                            

No quilting finish this week. I did get some blocks done for Covered in Love. 

                                    

I usually try to do 8. There are not “due” til the end of August, so unless I run out of red, white or blue, I should be able to get 8 completed and mailed! They may not all be like these! Lately, my sleep has been interrupted by thoughts of sawtooth stars!

 I also finished a second dark blue geese’s migration block and some hollow 9 patches. 

But the finish happened yesterday. There is a bit of preface to the project. My DH says I drive every spike in the railroad when I tell a story! (Meaning, in his mind, way too much information ℹ️) I plead “guilty “. So here goes. If it bugs you, just jump to the end. 😆!

Our house faces south, has a small back yard. In fact, it’s mostly deck on the back. Seven years ago we took down a big tree on the west side to add on to the single stall garage. That let a lot of sun in the late afternoon and early summer evenings on the deck. It was miserable to grill out there  or enjoy it at all. So 2 years ago, we, ( mostly Mr. Busy), put up a PVC frame and we bought canvas paint drop cloths, folded them to fit and hung them from large wooden rings with clips. Bad idea! Well, maybe good idea, bad execution! The wood rings did not hold up ! They weathered and split and dropped the curtains! Last year we just endured the sun, but didn’t  use the back deck much at all! So this week, Mr. Busy, constructed another smaller PVC rod, like a curtain rod. And we measured and I cut the same drop cloths to size. Wow, was I glad for good scissors! I have a pair of Gingher dressmakers shears and they cut through that duck cloth like butter. I used regular quilting cotton thread and a #100 upholstery needle in my Bernina! It was easy peasy ! I had been dragging my feet, sort of! 

Early morning, this morning.  So it is shady back there now. 

Mr. Busy's little Weber grill, that he dearly loves. 

Shady and breezy ( it is Wyoming, you know)!  but a good pic of the PVC contraption!

I’m not pleased with the utilitarian fluorescent yellow tie backs, but sometime you just acquiesce to get the job done. ( You can see them in the photo of the grill)  I’ll come up with something else more to my liking before next year. 

Last night Mr Busy grilled chicken out there and declared it “ so much better”!

So I'll link up with Alicia at Quilty Girl.  Finished or Not Finished Friday.  I have a bit of both this week. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy