Finished or Not Finished Friday

 I’ve been trying to straighten my sewing room. I don’t have lots of room, so I try to stay sort of organized. That project is NEVER FINISHED. I’ve also been doing some “secret” sewing. I will be away from my machine for all of December.  You’ll just have to be patient. 

Just a "peek"

Quilting my go-to serpentine stitch in dark blue thread. 

I do have this small finish. The first Christmas embroidered motif that will become a hexagon table topper! The colors may seem odd....

but I am hopeful that when used with the fabric line Holly Jolly, it will be a fun happy table topper! 

So just a  little bit of sewing done this week.

 We purchased license tags for our car, they expire the end of November. We got our flu shots. The Public Health office here is not giving them at this time. 6 of their 13 employees are out with COVID.  So we ended up at Walgreen's. The Pharmacist was a lovely young lady but not as good a "shot giver"as the Public Health Nurses!  My arm is "sore"!

And I am making plans for our road trip!  All precautions in place. Sanitizer, wipes, masks, supplies to eat in the car and in the hotel room.  We are good.!

I leave you with these two photos taken out the back door at my brother and SIL's house just outside of Rapid City SD.  This huge ram just wandered past as they were having morning coffee. 

I'm linking up with Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday! 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy!

I LIKE THURSDAY #18

I'm joining I LIKE THURSDAY at Not Afraid of Color again this week.  Several good things to like this week. The weather has been mild. Mr Busy and I are walking every day. Earlier now, that it gets dark at 4:45!! But right after lunch the sun is usually shining and the infamous Wyoming wind isn't blowing. 

 Beside my chair:

It's a bad photo. But there is my embroidery project. Free of the hoop!  Do you take your stitching off the hoop when you are not stitching? It's a habit I developed a long time ago when I did a lot of counted cross stitch. 

A basket of stitching supplies. Floss and needles. A scissors on a lanyard and magnifying glasses that fit over my regular glasses. The small spiral notebook is a hand written reminder of which floss color I had decided to stitch where. 

Also my phone, because you can't be too far from your peeps! And a cute tiny tin with a Turkey on it!

Some Thanksgiving wall decor. 

This turkey was fun to do!

I'm especially fond of this one. 

And on my buffet :  Table runner plus some  ceramic figurines I painted many years ago, when ceramics was a passion.  

Entertainment:

THIS IS US   is  back....

How can  you not love Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia?

 it’s still a favorite .

Season 5     Sterling K. Brown and Susan Kelechi Watson - Randall and Beth

                    Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore - Jack and Rebecca

                    Justin Hartley - Kevin

                    Chrissy Metz and Chris Sullivan - Kate and Toby

   

No movies to review or point you to this week.  WE( Mr Busy, mostly) have been glued to the news stations. We are pleased with the election turnout mostly. But wanting the nation to get on with the business at hand....transitioning to a new administration. This is hurting us all!

We do break  to watch JEOPARDY. It's been a favorite for many years. Our supper hour is planned around a local Denver News magazine called NEXT and JEOPARDY.  We were so saddened to learn of the passing of Alex Trebek. He fought a brave fight!

I’m reading a book on my tablet! I downloaded Libby that links to my local library. I checked out Born A Crime by Trevor Noah. So far it very interesting! I have it for 14 days. 

And I have started reading On Borrowed Time  by Jenn McKinlay, in paperback. When I entered it to my Goodreads page, I realized it was Library Lovers Mystery #5. I usually will not read a series out of order. But I have started and I don't have the others in the series. So  I will finish this one. And it is kind of good, so far..  I probably will go back and look up the others. A typical Cozy Mystery, but I like that genre. 

I apologize for the fuzzy photos. I saved them from Goodreads.  Usually that works for me, but not this time. 

I hope you will go check out all the other posts on the I Like Thursday post at Not Afraid of Color. LeeAnna does a great job posting her likes and giving us all a place to post ours. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy

To-Do Tuesday and Weekly Progress #14

Every Tuesday, Home Sewn By Us, gives us this forum to record a list of things we want to accomplish and to share them and check them off. No worries if they don't get accomplished. Thanks to Roseanne and Sue for this. This is my 14th link up. 

Last Weeks To-Do List

Nov 3 - Nov 9

1. More Heartland Block, maybe 4?   Done

2. Sew a small zipper pouch.  You can't have too many!   Done

3. Make Christmas fabric masks for Mr. Busy and me.    Done

4. Write November OMG post  and link to Elm Street Quilts.  Done

1.  More Heartland blocks. Maybe four?

October 30th there were 9

Now there are 13

2. Sew a  little zipper pouch.

 

Mostly green with a little pink. 

And a cute starfish charm! 

3. Make Christmas fabric masks for Mr. Busy and myself. When I asked if he would wear a Christmas fabric face mask, he looked at me like I was off my rocker..so now I have 2 new masks. 

 

I used two different, new to me, patterns found on YouTube. 

4. Write  November OMG post and link to Elm Street Quilts. 

Post and Link   Mine is #43

Next week

Nov 10 - Nov 16

1. Continue to make Heartland Blocks.

2. Start to “stage” the stuff that we are taking to our son! 

3. Stitch on November OMG embroidery project. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy! 

RSC20 November / December Scrapbasket Challenge!

 I’ve been chilling,  waiting to see what Joyful might do about our scrap basket challenge! I only have 12 days until I’m away from my machine till the end of the year. So I’m taking the leap of faith that she will accept my challenge. Anyone else want to join in?  Please do. November will be a neutral scrap basket. Your choice of size to fit your allotted space. You pick the technique. There are tutorials out there and there may be one in the making! 

I got an early start!  Slabs and crumbs and strips and pieces all started to puzzle together. Then frakenbatting happened and a piece left over from a worn and stained holiday table cloth became the backing or inside of the basket! 

You can see bits of pink from great granddaughter Miss B’s Welcome quilt, There some black on white that was in a step granddaughter’s college graduation quilt. There’s text fabric and a bit of aboriginal fabric! 

I started by dividing the slab into fourths with the large serpentine stitch on my machine using this thread. It’s a variegated ecru/tan.  Then stitching “snakey” lines the width of my walking  foot!

The lavender dots to the left and the Australia n fabric near the bottom of this section. 

There were some extra crumb blocks and this zipper pouch happened. Truth be told there are more extra crumby blocks to go into the finished basket!  LOL

I hope Joyful will be OK with me starting on my basket! And I hope we get some other takers on the challenge.  So end of November, let's show and tell our Light Neutral Scrap Baskets and then the end of December we will show and tell our Dark Neutral Scrap Baskets!  Deal?

I'm linking up with Angela at her ScrapHappy Saturday!   See you there. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy! 

Finished or Not Finished Friday!

 

I’ve been sewing crumb blocks. Light neutrals in anticipation of the last two months of RSC20. I had some that looked like this. 

Chunks and  odd size pieces. So I made a zip bag using this pattern. 

The pattern uses string blocks. But I had crumb blocks, no problem. I had a white 9 inch zipper,  so the big bag  happened. 

Then I spied this bright green zipper in my tote. 

It’s called a skirt or neck zipper. 7”. The price was 30 cents. This must have been in my mom’s stuff! So I gathered some green strings and 2 pink ones just because. The pattern suggest paper foundation or interfacing. I decided to use interfacing. I have an old stash of that too. It’s not fusible, but for string piecing it doesn’t need to be. 

This is the result. 

The inside is a yellowish neutral that was already cut to the correct size, because......

The zipper pull tab on this zip is little. So I searched my drawers of buttons and baubles and found this starfish charm.

I couldn’t find my jump rings, but I know I have some. Temporarily it is attached with a gold foil twist tie. I think it closed a gift bag of specialty candy once! 

The bigger bag has a scrap of the cut off nylon zipper teeth. Have you ever used the remains of a zipper for a "pull"?

So two zipper pouches are finished and ready to  be added to my bags for our holiday road trip. 

I'm linking up with Alycia at Alycia Quilts and Finished or Not Finished Friday!

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy!

Wear your mask!  Wash your hands!  Stay safe!   Cases are rising all over!

I LIKE THURSDAY #17

 

I'm linking up with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color with other bloggers to focus on the good stuff! 

And heaven knows I need some good stuff to focus on considering the Election News that just overwhelms the airwaves!

I like ironed pillowcases....and so does Mr. Busy!    So I iron pillow cases.  I always have!

Especially with Linen Fresh from Best Press!

You all probably remember that my great grandkids live far away.  Thank goodness their parents are good about sharing their adventures with the great gramma and Pa.

I like photos shared on Facebook. JR as Ghostbuster Luigi.  He and his daddy made the Ghost sweeper from a vacuum cleaner found in the trash. They painted it and gave it lights! 

And Miss B as a ballerina!  Because who doesn't want to be a ballerina!  Especially,  if you have pink glittery shoes!

I like scraps of fabric turned into jewels. I need more yellow, more orange, more turquoise.

ENTERTAINMENT:

This is Us is back on Tuesday nights.  Just not this last Tuesday because of the Elections. Some of our other favorites have not started yet!  Like...Chicago Wednesday! (Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago PD. )

We watched 3 movies last week,  because neither of us are vested in football this year. We are Bronco fans, but they are in a rebuilding phase!  Not a winning season!

The Queen with Helen Mirren

Moneyball with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill

And Motherless Brooklyn with Edward Norton, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe! 

And I finished my ninth book.   Temptation by Nora Roberts. I've read lots of  Nora Roberts books. This one is an older one!  And it is typical Nora Roberts. 

Now I have to find a book to read for the next week or two. I have lots to choose from. Maybe Robert Galbraith's  The Silkworm.  Or maybe Death on the Greasy Grass by C.M. Wendelboe.

Til next Thursday

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy. 

November OMG Link Up

My One Monthly Goal for November involves some handwork. I  hope to be able to get these embroidery designs done and ready to be made into a Christmas table topper.  Most is hand work. And by Thanksgiving I will be in California without my machine. 

This one is nearing completion. 

These haven't been started. Can you even see them?  A Star and A Heart! They will be sewn into a Hexie patchwork. Like this only Christmas themed,  not Fall themed. 

I have the charm squares packed with the selected embroidery floss for the other two designs. The pattern is in my go-bag too! The top is put together by hand.  The quilting and the backing was added by machine on the one above. 

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal November Link-up

Click on over to Elm Street Quilts and see what others are working on for November. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy